The Many Phases of a Smile
by TyLeeChan
Summary: Kei said Father used to smile before I was born... Ty Lee's Unknown Past. She has a coldhearted father, a caring but sickly mother, and a wonderful brother who explains to her the true meaning of a smile. R
1. Newborn

**Yo, what's up? I'm Mitsuki, and this is my first fanfic. I thought of this when I was going to bed one night...yeah. I love Ty Lee, and I wanted to give her more of a background. I obviously don't own A:TLA, cuz If I did Ty Lee would have a bigger role, Aang would be dead, Jin would come back, Iroh would be Firelord, Zuko would probably be with Katara..., and Ty Lee would be with Sokka...:) Enjoy!! FYI Kei is prounounced "Key".  
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The Many Phases of a Smile

Chapter 1

Kei woke up that morning with one thought in his mind. _He's coming. _A nice spring breeze blew through the open window, and Kei sat up in his bed. He smelled the fresh baked rolls that Cook was cooking, and it got him going. He scrambled around to grab his patch, which his little hands eventually took hold of. Carefully he strapped it around his left eye and began to find his clothes. Kei's mother had picked them out the night before. His best red tunic, his brown belt, and his russet leggings were all lying in a heap next to his bed. He swiftly put them on, and grabbed his shoes on the way out of his room. Suddenly, Kei stopped. He turned around and saw his necklace on the bedside table, which he placed around his neck. He was ready to go.

He ran as fast as he could, trying to put on his shoes at the same time. This proved impossible, and he tripped over himself, causing a crowd of servants to circle around him.

"Is the little master okay?" His favorite servant, Tay asked. Kei flashed a grimace.

"I am fine, but now I am afraid that my "help" will suffocate me. I just tripped. I'm not hurt at all." He said. Tey motioned for the servants to return to their duties, and they left, as if nothing had happened.

" Why must they do that all the time? I'm no different than any other boy in the Fire Nation, yet if I fall over or cut myself, I am suddenly defenseless. But I am not." Kei made two fire missiles appears in front of his hands, "Father says I could even beat The Fire Prince in an Agni Kai if I really felt like it. Yet he still makes a servant follow me wherever I go so I don't get hurt." Tay laughed.

"Did he mention that the Fire Prince is 3-years-old? You are four years older; of course you would beat him! You should've asked Jako, your latest personal servant. He used to work with Zuko but was demoted for repeated failures."

"But I am almost 8-years-old!" Kei protested. Tay just smiled. Tay and Kei walked down the halls and discussed more things, until they passed the kitchen. They grabbed a roll each.

"By the way, where is Jako?" Tay asked. Kei just smiled and pointed towards the food supply room in the kitchen. Tay sighed, "You are never going to change your father's mind about you if your servants keep 'disappearing'."

"They wouldn't 'disappear' if Father would just let you be my personal servant. Then I would be happy, and you would be relieved from your fieldwork." Kei let his head droop, "But Father never listens to me. He is only concerned about my safety…"

"But isn't that better than having him not care about your welfare? He loves you dearly, Kei. And, I am sure when your sibling comes he will be thinking more of him than of you." Tay winked. Kei's eye widened.

"The baby! I almost forgot!" Kei exclaimed, as he dashed down the hall.

He kept running until he passed his mother's bedroom. He stopped, and turned around until he found himself almost running into his father.

"Kei, where have you been? It is almost time for your brother to come into the world!!" Lord Lee said.

"How are you sure it is a boy?" Kei asked puzzled.

"Son, we went to the best fortuneteller in the Fire Nation, and she foretold it."

"But what if she was wrong?" His father just smiled.

"If she is wrong, then she will get an unpleasant visit from me." And he laughed. Kei smiled. He was glad when his father was in this kind of mood.

"What will his name be, Father?"

"Well, Kei, it is the tradition within my family to give the oldest son his own name. The rest of the children will receive a name based on their ancestors, along with the father's name to show that they belong to him. Your brother's name will be Ty Lee, after our great-grandfather. Ty was a general in the army the time the Fire Nation deployed its first attack against the Air Nomads. His men were one of the best in the whole Fire Nation, and the Airbenders put up a good fight. But we both know that didn't last long." He laughed again. Kei had a perplexed look on his face, and Lee just patted the seven-year-old on the head, "You'll get it later."

A doctor rushed to the doorway and spoke in a hushed tone. Lee's eyes brightened and he motioned for Kei to come in. The room had the smell of incense, and peace seemed to surround it. That is Kei thought until he heard the pain stricken wails of his mother.

"Mama! Father what is wrong with her?" Kei asked, frightened.

"Birth comes with a price." He calmly stated. Kei quickly grasped hold of his father's sleeve and shut his eyes. He had always imagined his brother's arrival to be a joyful time, but now he was getting second thoughts. Suddenly, a nurse came and shoved the two of them back in the hallway. It was a false-alarm. Now Kei was as anxious as ever.

"Father, I have a question." Kei asked a few minutes later.

"Hm? Yes son, what is it?"

"When can I meet Zuko? You said I could a while ago, but then you suddenly changed your mind. He seems really nice from what Tay told me. It would be cool to meet royalty."

"Yes, my son should be entitled to be the Fire Prince's friend. He might even learn a thing or two from you in bending. Maybe at the next war council I could bring you along to meet him…"

"Does that mean I can challenge him in an Agni Kai?" Kei asked naïvely.

"No! The only reason to challenge one to an Agni Kai is, well…, usually if they have offended you. I can have a lieutenant explain it to you. Ah, yes, I know a fellow comrade by the name of Zhao. Nice man, he can explain it to you." Lee went on to explain his Commander duties and soon minutes became hours. But Kei didn't mind. He had never realized what war really was until this very moment. He was fascinated.

"Father, how do you know if someone is going to be a firebender?"

"Son, when a child is born, they always do something remarkable. That is their talent. If you are going to be a firebender, you might shoot out fire from your fingertips. If you are to be a joker, you might laugh. If you are going to be a soldier, you might yell a war cry. You burnt your eye when you were born." Kei placed his hand over his patch. He carefully lifted it to reveal an empty socket. Slowly he returned the patch to its place.

The doctor came out again, this time ecstatic.

"It's here, it's here!!" He exclaimed. Quickly, Lee and Kei ran into the room.

The satin dress that Sakura wore blew in the wind. She turned her head slightly and gave a faint smile to her family. She pointed to one of the nurses. Kei heard the small whimpers and rushed to the nurse she indicated.

Wrinkly skin. Black eyes. No hair, save wisps on its head. Dark pigment and ear piercing cries. This was not what Kei imagined his brother to be. This is not what he imagined a newborn to be! Babies were always cherished, but they looked so ugly and all they did was cry. Is this the same baby that his father had been overjoyed about for weeks?

"Doctor! Do I have another firebender?" Lee asked. But the doctor's eyes had widened.

"Lord Lee, we um…are not quite sure what too make of your child." He fumbled his fingers behind his back.

"Yes, spit it out, man!"

"She did a cartwheel, um, sir…."

"A cartwheel!? A newborn did a cartwheel??! This is unthinkable! What kind of talent is a cartwheel…." Lee stopped in his tracks when he realized what the doctor had said. "_**She**_ did a cartwheel!!!!???" Lee went around the room and began kicking at the doorposts.

"Lee, stop it! You'll upset Ty Lee!" Sakura grabbed her daughter and snuggled her close.

"No! She is not worthy to bear that name Sakura!"

"She is my daughter and I say that Ty Lee suits her. Just because you don't get everything your way doesn't mean you should dish it out on the children!!" Tears formed in Sakura's eyes as Kei drew close to see Ty Lee. Lee stormed out of the room.

"Mama, I have…a sister?" Kei whispered.

"Are you disappointed too, honey?" She said.

"No, I am happy. I always wanted a sister."

They looked out the window and watched the sun set with magnificent colors. And Ty Lee smiled.

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**Ooh, what's going to happen next? You better find out! Please review!**


	2. The Exam

** Hey, this is chapter 2, and took me a while to write. I am really liking the relationship between Ty Lee and Kei. Also, I am no expert on firebending, so the whole exam in the dojo was based on "The deserter" (breathing forms), "Zuko Alone" (form 1), Azula (Form 2), and Azula/Iroh (Form 3). If they are totally incorrect I am sorry if I offended those who know better than I.**

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7 years later

"Kei! Wait up Kei!" Ty Lee wailed as she ran to catch up with her brother. Kei turned around abruptly.

"What is it, Ty Lee?" He asked.

"Kei, I want to watch you!" She said as she grabbed hold of his arm. Kei wiggled out of her grip.

"I would let you any other day, but today I have an exam."

"Exam!? They test you on firebending?" Ty Lee was shocked. Kei laughed.

"They test you on everything. Your forms, your breathing pattern, your stance, even your hairstyle!" Ty Lee's hands instantly went up to her long unruly hair. "Be lucky you aren't a firebender."

"But Kei, I want to be a firebender, really bad!!"

"Hm? And why is that, little sister?"

"Because I want to be like you, big brother!" Ty Lee exclaimed.

"But you have an amazing talent, better than firebending any day. You have muscles where I didn't think muscles could grow! I bet if you worked harder, you could even perfect standing on your fingers!" Kei explained. But this didn't help. Tears sprang in little Ty Lee's eyes. "Oh, what's wrong?" Kei kneeled down and was eye-to-eye with the crying girl.

"Papa says…t-that I'm useless since I d-don't know firebending. He says flipping w-will get you nowhere." Ty Lee's body was shaking. Kei brought her close to him.

"So is that why you want to know firebending?" Ty Lee nodded. "Listen, I have lived with Father for fifteen years, and you know what?"

"What?"

"Sometimes his pride gets the better of him, and he says things he doesn't mean. Believe me; he has done the same thing to me."

"Because of your boo-boo?" Kei rested his hand on his patch.

"Yes, Ty Lee, because of my 'boo-boo'." But Ty Lee kept on crying, "Now, there. Stop crying. You don't want Sifu Abu to see you like this." He winked.

Ty Lee's eyes brightened.

"You don't mean…"

"Come on, little poodlemonkey, we are going to be late."

Ty Lee cartwheeled over to the fire dojo. She finished with a flip and caught a cherry blossom from a nearby tree when she did. Kei ran quickly, and was soon out of breath when he caught up with his sister.

"Look Kei! It is a cherry blossom, a Sakura! I'm going to give it to Mama. But what if she wants more…should I pick more, Kei!? Or does she want a plum blossom..? Whaddya think? Kei?" Ty Lee rambled. Kei had his hands on his knees, panting.

"How…do...you...have...so…much energy?" He wheezed. But he stood up. "Come on. I'd _hate_ to be late for my exam." Kei remarked sarcastically.

They began to walk up the magnificent marble staircase that led to the entrance of the dojo. Ty Lee jumps and skips ten steps ahead of Kei, to his amazement, and lands in front of the door.

_Something is different about this girl. I am sure of it. Even if she isn't a firebender, I know she must have some kind of power. Who can do this at age seven? Father has no idea how not useless she is._

Kei decided not to run to catch up with her this time. Instead he took a nice stroll up the stairs and smelled the air. Cook was cooking up some kind of feast, because the wind brought so many tantalizing smells. Probably some nobleman coming over for dinner, as usual.

"Ty Lee!" Kei said when he reached his sister, "Remember, don't talk when I train. It breaks my focus and I won't be able to do the moves. Got it?" Ty Lee was fumbling the blossom in between her fingers.

"Okie-Dokie big brother. Will do." Ty Lee responded, obviously not listening.

"While you are in there, if you get bored, don't leave the dojo, because the opening of the door will also break my focus. Okay? You could practice flips or standing on your fingers instead." Ty Lee still kept her eye on her hands.

"Okay, can we go in now?" She asked. Kei muffled a sigh and opened the door.

Sifu Abu was sitting in front of a fire pit, slowly moving the flames up and down. The middle-aged man turned his head at the sound of company and bluntly said, "You're late, Kei."

"I'm sorry Sifu Abu, you see my sis-" Kei began.

"I don't need excuses; just begin your breathing forms."

"Okay, Sifu Abu."

Ty Lee positioned herself on the side of the wall and watched Kei. He began with his legs stretched apart, and he began to breathe at a steady pace. This went on for a few minutes and Ty Lee began to lean on the wall.

"Good, good." Sifu Abu commented, "Now, you will start your exam. Begin with the first form."

Kei seemed frozen in Ty Lee's view. Then suddenly he put his hands together in a bowing position. He reached his arms out and began twirling them slightly. Ty Lee caught a yawn, and decided to entertain herself.

She stretched her leg up to her head and rubbed it for a second. Then she flipped backwards and began to stand on her hands. Slowly she began to raise her body up to the point where her fingers were the only thing supporting her.

"Good, Kei. Now the second form."

Ty Lee had forgotten about her brother. She quickly glanced up to see what he was doing. Being accustomed to being upside down, she could see perfectly, just as if she were right side up.

Kei was furiously throwing punches in the air, each followed by a blue fireball. Then he jumped and kicked, landing a fire-bullet straight into an unlit torch. It immeadiatley caught aflame. He bowed.

"Okay, now finally, the third form. Show me how you tame the lightning." Sifu Abu was clearly pleased. Ty Lee suddenly had a tickling sensation above her nose. She looked carefully, and saw a clump of hair in her face. Sighing, she began to blow at it, trying to make it go away. Unfortunately, it didn't work, and Ty Lee landed on her bottom. She really had to do something about her hair.

Kei began to move his arms around with his middle and pointer finger out. Ty Lee watched in amazement as blue lightning appeared around his body. He spun it around and Ty Lee noticed something was wrong. His breathing rate had gone up and when he turned to let the lightning loose, it sprang towards her. She screamed. Kei's hands went to his mouth.

Quickly, Ty Lee flattened herself on the ground. She felt the heat of the electricity zooming over her. Fear seemed to control her body. She couldn't move.

"Ty Lee!!" Kei shouted as he ran over to her "Are you okay?"

"I think you need to work on that form a bit." She remarked as she stood up and brushed off her clothes. Without warning Kei embraced Ty Lee and held her close.

"I am so sorry." He whispered. Sifu Abu just stared.

"Next time, we'll do extensive training on your third form. You will still pass the exam, only because the third form was voluntary and not part of your curriculum."

"Thank you, Sifu Abu."

"This class is now over."

Kei and Ty Lee were out the door in a flash. Kei was still holding on to his sister.

"Wait!" Ty Lee suddenly exclaimed. Kei waited patiently while Ty Lee ran back inside the dojo. He smiled when he saw her coming out with a single cherry blossom in her hand.

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**Aww...I love the ending for this one. FYI, Kei is my parody of an Azula (firebending prodigy). But he is kind of like Zuko because of the scar and "injury" on the same eye. **


	3. Hair

**Wow.. this isprobably going to be my shortest chapter, I had major writers block, and had to write about the origins of Ty Lee's hairstyle. I am ashamed of myself because I reused words again and again in the Hair section...This is pretty much a filler...more like chapter 2 1/2 instead of 3, but oh well. R&R**

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Sakura wove the blossom into her hair for the dinner that evening. Ty Lee was overjoyed that her mother actually was going to wear it. But something was still on her mind as they prepared for the feast. Why couldn't she finish learning how to stand on her fingers? Oh that's right. Her untamed hair got in the way, _again. _It is so long now, it could probably reach the floor. Why doesn't her mother let her cut it?

Ty Lee sat in the corner of her mother's bedroom as she watched her mother comb her hair. Each strand seemed like a glossy image of beauty. She looked at her own untamed wisps and sighed. She would never be as beautiful as her mother.

"Honey, it's your turn to get ready." Sakura called from the vanity. Ty Lee trudged over.

"Mama, how can we make my hair…better?" She asked.

"Oh, Ty Lee, what on earth do you mean?"

"I mean…My hair is all lumpy and not straight. It goes in any and every direction. I want to be pretty…like Mama." Sakura held her close to her.

"Ty Lee, you are already beautiful. The prettiest girl in the world." Ty Lee looked up with a glint of hope in her eyes, "But, if you want a new hairstyle, we'll get you a new hairstyle."

Sakura rang a tiny bell, and two servants appeared in the doorway.

"Yes, m'lady?" They asked.

"My daughter needs a new look. Something that won't get in her way when she wants to practice cartwheeling. Yet something cute and appropriate at the same time. Do you have any suggestions?" One of the servants came forward, and whispered something in Lady Sakura's ear. Sakura nodded and sent them off, "You can return to your duties now."

Sakura took the comb and began to brush out all the knots and tangles in Ty Lee's hair.

"Ow! Mama, whaddaya' think your doing? This hurts!" Ty Lee cried out. Sakura just laughed.

"Maybe you should wash _and_ brush your hair more often. Then we won't have to do this." Ty Lee blushed.

Soon her hair was soft and gentle. Ty Lee felt it, and gasped in surprise.

"This isn't my hair!" She exclaimed.

"Yes it is." Sakura explained. Then she took two big clumps of bangs and placed them on each side of Ty Lee's head. The rest of her bangs were combed back into her hair. Slowly, Sakura formed a single bun on the top of her head. Then she put a hair band around both sides of it.

Ty Lee watched as more buns were made, smaller than the original. They crawled down all the way to her waist. Finally, it ended, with a little wisp of hair. Looking in the mirror, Ty Lee saw just what she wanted.

"You did it Mama!"

"Now, Ty Lee, listen closely. This is the same hairstyle my mother wore. It, of course, was a little different, but still. I want you to wear this often, it helps me see how much of my mother there is in you." Sakura smiled.

"Wow…"Ty Lee said, "Your mother…Okay. Mama, I'm going to make you a promise. From this day on, I will always keep my hair like this! Just for you."

"Thanks, dear. But you don't have to."

"I want to! For you." Ty Lee insisted.

"Well, now we have to get together an outfit for dinner." Sakura and Ty Lee moved over to the wardrobe. Sakura chose a red silky kimono, while Ty Lee chose her pink satin kimono with flowers on it. Unfortunately, Ty Lee couldn't tie her sash up on her back.

"Mama? Could you help me?" She whimpered. Sakura quickly tied it. Then they took their best pair of comfy slippers and walked to dinner. Ty Lee was ecstatic. Who could be visiting now? It was almost always someone from the Navy, but Lee always kept a surprise about who it was. _I guess I'll just have to wait and see._

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**Yeah, definently a filler. Don't critisize me too bad, I told you I am already ashamed. Next chapter is going to be better, and longer.**_  
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	4. The Guest

**I love this part. You will see who the guest is. MWAHAHAHA. Actually, I really like the voice actor of this character. But that is irrelevant. You will also find out part of Ty Lee's unknown abilities. R&R people!!  
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Ty Lee walked down the hall with her mother. Kei soon caught up with them. He was wearing his best red tunic and leggings.

"Hey, Ty Lee!" He called.

"Yeah?"

"You have to be careful tonight." He warned. "Oh, and nice hair." Ty Lee smiled.

"Whatever for?" Sakura asked. Kei had a nervous look on his face.

"Father's best friend has come over." He whispered. Sakura's eyes widened.

"Okie-Dokie, big brother." Ty Lee replied.

Soon they entered the dining hall. There was a huge chair at the end of an extravagant table. That was Lee's seat. He was already sitting down when the rest of his family arrived. The guest's seat was empty.

"Here is my family!" Lee cried out. Sakura, Ty Lee, and Kei each took their seats. "Now our guest of honor can finally enter the room." Lee had a suspicious eye on Ty Lee, and she cowered in her seat. What had she done this time?

A door opened, and all attention was drawn to it. Ty Lee held in a gasp. It was the evil man!

"I am so sorry that I am late. It took me awhile to return from the Earth Kingdom with my…newly acquired information." The man stepped in the dining hall. His sideburns nearly grazed the guards on duty. The grin of determination on his face was chilling. Yet Lee welcomed him with opened arms.

"Welcome, Zhao. I knew you would make it. You aren't late at all. In fact, my family has just seated themselves." Another shot of evil pointed in Ty Lee's direction. "Sit down! Sit down! You will be pleased to know that your favorite is being served tonight."

"Ah, Roasted Turkey Chicken with Papaya on the side. Delicious."

"Cook!" Lee roared. The poor Fire Nation servant came forward. "Serve us!"

"Right away, your grace." He replied. Clapping his hands together, Cook signaled five butlers to begin serving the meal. "You will want to know that the dessert this evening is Pineapple Volcano cake. Enjoy."

Immediately when Cook was finished speaking, the butlers sprang into action, placing plates on the table and supplying chopsticks. They also gave a bowl of miso soup. When Ty Lee's butler came by, she placed a gold piece in his hand.

"To help buy your freedom." She whispered. Tay nodded in appreciation.

"The children will be pleased." He replied softly.

The roasted turkey chicken was still steaming, so everyone had to wait and eat their soup until the time came. Ty Lee was struggling to eat the pieces of tofu first before drinking the broth.

"So, Zhao, is it true you found Wa Shi Tong's Library?" Lee asked. Zhao quickly glanced around the room. He leaned and whispered something into Lee's ear. "Ah, our guest wants some privacy, all the servants are dismissed." The servants left the room.

"I don't want anyone else to know about this." He explained. Ty Lee suddenly paid attention. No matter how much she hated him, she wanted to hear about a library. What is a library anyways? "Since I was relieved of my duties right after I found it, I have the pleasure of telling you about my discovery. Though I am sure General Shu will call me back out to fight any day now. You can't trust that man; he does anything he can to win the battle. Anyways, I was surveying the area one night, looking for enemy surprise attacks when I stumbled across a staircase. I was taken aback, for I happened to be in the middle of a desert. I decided to climb down the staircase, and to my surprise I found a library full of ancient and important documents. I looked through them for about an hour until I found…this!" He fiddled through his bag and held out a scroll. Lee grabbed it out of his hands and opened it. His eyes widened as he read it aloud.

"'Moon and Ocean. Tui and La. Push and Pull. Oasis in the North.'" Zhao was smiling the whole time. "What kind of blubbering nonsense is this, Zhao? You invite yourself over to dinner to show me some ancient scroll that says nothing?!" Ty Lee shuddered. She hated it when her father got this way. She decided to begin to eat her turkey chicken, which the rest of them had already done. She knew she had to hurry up, or it would look like something was wrong with her stomach, and she really wanted a piece of that Pineapple Volcano cake. Zhao took notice of her eating.

"Lee, what is wrong with that child of yours? Do you starve her because of her incompetence?" He smiled, "If I had children, I would discipline them much harder."

"Don't you tell me how to raise my children! It's not my fault she's useless. Now stop going off subject, tell me what the scroll means!" Ty Lee fought oncoming tears. First the evil man, and now her father? How could this day go any worse? Father hadn't even noticed her new hairstyle Mama worked so hard on. Does he even care?

"It is the location of the mortal forms of Tui and La. When I found this, I realized my destiny. I was meant to kill the moon!" He began to laugh maniacally, while everyone else stared. Even Lee began to have second thoughts about his friend going crazy in the desert. "And when I was done, I burned the rest of the documents I looked at, so no one else would have that knowledge!"

"Zhao, was that really necessary?" Sakura pitched in. "There might have been useful information to help the Fire Nation in those scrolls."

"Be quiet, decrepit woman. What would you know of the well-being of the Fire Nation? Your illness have left you cut of from the real world, and has left you in this oasis. You have no idea of the Fire Nation."

"That's enough, Zhao! You can insult me, you can insult my children, but you cannot insult my wife." Lee was enraged, "Kei, it is time to demonstrate you teachings to Zhao. He may learn a thing or two from you in discipline." Kei nodded and got up.

He started off with his second form, but instead of setting a torch on fire, he set the top of the Pineapple Volcano cake on fire, letting the sweet sauce "erupt" and smother the dessert. Everyone clapped, except Zhao.

"Impressive." He managed to say, letting a hint of jealousy show. "So, when are you joining the Navy, son?"

"I'm not joining the Navy." Kei calmly replied.

"But your skills greatly surpass my own. We could quickly finish the war with more men like you! And I am sure you could convince your father that you are not handicapped if you do."

"Father doesn't think I am handicapped. He knows that I can see just the same with one eye as I could with two. And besides, it has helped my other senses grow far stronger."

"And besides," Lee put in, "I don't want him going into the war. He needs to first finish his training, and then go to military school. And military school is his free choice. If he chooses to, I am completely fine. But I don't want him getting stuck in the middle of war if he doesn't want to."

"Well, then." Zhao said, knowing he had lost. "When can we try some of that magnificent Pineapple Volcano Cake?"

The dessert was served, but Ty Lee didn't feel good.

"May I be excused?" She asked. Kei looked at her, puzzled. Before getting a reply, she stood up and ran to her room.

She knew it was coming. A wave had built up inside her, and she had to let it out. When she reached her room, it exploded. Tears ran down her face as her whole body shook. She hated that man.

She heard Zhao leave and slowly moved towards her bed. Knowing what her father would do if she was awake, she decided to fake sleeping. It felt good to snuggle against her pillow. If only she could snuggle against her father. Soon she really did fall asleep. Alone in her dreams, Ty Lee found peace.

She was walking in a swampy place. Little lights glowed around her. Ty Lee turned around at a sound and saw a panda looking right at her. It seemed to beckon to her, and she jumped on his back. Without warning, it lunged forward, running at full speed. Something told Ty Lee to look up. She did, and saw a magnificent blue dragon.

Soon the panda stopped, and she jumped off and continued walking. She looked ahead and saw a boy, a little younger than Kei. He was bald and had an arrow on his head. He appeared to be trying to talk to her. Ty Lee had to move closer to hear him.

"_I am going to return."_

Suddenly, the picture in front of her shattered into a billion pieces. Immense pain filled her head, and she woke up. A hand smacked her cheek. Tears sprang out.

"Never embarrass me like that again." Lee cried before giving the final blow. Ty Lee screamed. And everything went black. She desperately tried to find the swamp again. But it was gone.

A few hours later, she heard someone come into her room. She opened her eyes, and saw Kei. He put a finger to his mouth and cam closer to her. He had a wet cloth in his hand. Carefully, he washed up her bloody face. Ty Lee smiled. Then he left, not before pointing towards the cabinet.

Ty Lee got up and went to the cabinet. On it was a piece of Pineapple Volcano cake and chopsticks.

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**Bad Lee! Bad, bad bad Lee! She was in the middle of something important and you woke her up! But, if he didn't, I wouldn't of been able to write the cutest ending...ooh well. Haha, I love writing parts with Zhao in it. I don't know why, but he is a fun character to toy around with. Especially since I want to make him lose control next time. That should be interesting. Also, Tay makes another cameo appearance! FYI, the servants of the Lee household (I don't know any other way to say it) are bound to the land (like serfs)until they pay up either by gold (20 pieces each) or service (100 years, which is practically impossible). Writing this part also made me hungry, and was difiicult. I haven't eaten lunch, or dinner yet. and it is 6:30!!?? I want some Pineapple Volcano Cake... **


	5. The Necklace

** Part of this is kind of a filler, but I had to do it. The whole meanings of the names are pretty much exact. I mean, I got it from wikipedia, but it helped me out a lot that Keiko ( a japanese girl's name) can be shortened to Kei (which can be a girl's or boy's name) and one of it's various meaning's is "Happy Child" which goes along with the story. So, I am pretty happy with how that went, lol. R&R**

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Ty Lee slept in late that morning. Kei had to come in and wake her up for lunch.

"Poodlemonkey, get up now. It's time to eat. You don't want to miss your soup and bread, do you?" He said. Her eyes opened slowly. The whole night she had tried to see the dream again. Now it was hard to face reality. Ty Lee couldn't feel her face, and she poked it. "Don't do that. It will become sore. And you might hurt it worse. I put numbing cream on it, so you won't feel anything."

Ty Lee got out of bed and began to put on her clothes.

"Kei, after lunch can we go to the pagoda and practice?" She asked.

"Practice what?"

"You can practice your forms, and I will practice standing on my fingers!" She explained.

"As long as I don't practice lightning."

"But you did it well." Ty Lee insisted.

"Ty Lee, I almost burned you! And I never want any harm to come to you, especially from me. You are special, and Father just doesn't understand that."

They made their way to the smaller dining hall, built for breakfast and lunch. Ty Lee and Kei both took their seats on the smaller table. It seemed that Sakura and Lee had already eaten, for their places were empty. A butler came out and began to serve them. Today's lunch was leftover miso soup and papaya bread. Ty Lee went to work picking out the pieces of tofu. But the dream was still on her mind.

"Kei, do you know of any swampy areas in the world?" She asked.

"I believe there is a big swamp in the Earth Kingdom."

"Well, do Pandas and Dragons live there?"

"What…? A Panda and a Dragon? But they don't really…" Kei paused and looked at Ty Lee's eyes sparkling, "Okay, Ty Lee. I have to tell you something. Pandas don't live in our world. Dragons don't either."

"But Kei! I saw them! I saw them!" She insisted, before slurping the remains of her soup.

"What…where? Are you playing a game with me, Ty Lee?"

"Nope. I saw them in a swamp. A pretty swamp with glowing lights everywhere."

"When did you see this?"

"Last night when I was sleeping."

"Oh, it was a dream." Kei realized. "So you are trying to figure out what the dream meant?" Ty Lee nodded.

"There was a boy there too. He looked funny. It was like he painted arrows on him or something…" Kei's eyes widened.

"An Air Nomad!"

"A…what?"

"This is unheard of! You don't even know what an Air Nomad is, yet you dreamed about one."

"Kei, what is an Air Nomad?" Ty Lee asked.

"Oh…and Air Nomad is a type of person. Part of the world. Like the Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Water Tribe."

"If they are part of the world, where are they? Can I meet one? Why don't we see them anymore?"

"Because…" Kei grew quiet, "Because the Fire Nation killed them all." Ty Lee gasped.

"Why would we do such a thing…"She whispered.

"Because they were a threat." A voice boomed from the doorway.

"Papa!" Ty Lee exclaimed.

"She just wanted to know what an Air Nomad was…" Kei explained.

"I know, I heard." Lee said bluntly, "The Air Nomads had skills that could even defeat a Fire nation soldier if they felt like it. Too bad they were peaceful people. Easy pickings for the Fire Nation." A cruel grin swept his face. Ty Lee's eyes seemed to wobble as she held back tears.

'Ty Lee, I think it is time for you to help me practice my forms." Kei said as he rushed out of the room holding Ty Lee's hand. The last thing she saw was Lee's grin melt into a snarl.

The pagoda seemed to brighten as the noonday sun stood directly over it. Ty Lee ran in and began to stretch her legs out. Kei walked slowly, focusing on his breathing.

Carefully, Ty Lee put her body in position, standing on her palms. Every so gradually, she raised her body up, letting it be held up by her fingers. With her hair behind her, nothing could mess Ty Lee up today.

"Kei! Look! Look!" She cried as she pulled back her pinky and ring finger. Kei turned his head and watched, clearly amazed. "I'm doing it! I'm doing it!"

She then moved her legs down and arched her back, forming a bridge with her two fingers supporting her. She jumped and did a flip, landing perfectly on her toes. Then she fell backwards, laughing.

"Ty Lee, that wasn't part of the act, was it?" Kei asked.

"I was so excited I lost my balance." She explained, picking herself back up. She noticed something Kei was holding. "Hey, what's that?" Kei seemed startled.

"Oh, this?" He said, indicating a small necklace in his hand. Ty Lee nodded, "This is my necklace. It was given to me when I was born."

"I says something on it, doesn't it? What's it say?"

"Well, on the front it has the Fire Nation emblem." He turned around the wooden circle, "And on the back it says 'Always do what seems best to you in your heart. Never stop smiling'. The reason it said this was, well…you know the famous fortuneteller that lives in the Fire Nation?"

"Yeah, she predicted about me before I was born, right?"

"Right and she was wrong. Well, she was wrong about me too. They thought I was going to be a girl, so Mama picked out the name Keiko, or 'Happy Child'. So Father had this necklace carved out for me on Mama's behalf. Unfortunately, I was a boy, so Mama shortened the name to Kei. I think that just means 'Happy', because I know 'Ko' pretty much means 'Child'."

"What does 'Ty Lee' mean?" She asked. Kei sat down and thought for a second.

"Well… 'Ty' can be translated to 'Tai' and 'Lee' to 'Li', and 'Tai Li' means 'Extreme Strength'." Ty Lee laughed.

"Maybe we should switch names, because I am no strong at all."

"And you are always happy."

"Well…" Ty Lee's face drooped, "Not all the time…" Kei noticed that.

"Here." He said, "Close your eyes." She did as he said, "Open your hand."

Ty Lee waited for a minute, and then opened her eyes to see the necklace in her palms of her hands.

"But Kei, won't Mama and Papa…"

"I always put my necklace down my shirt, so they never see it anyways. Just do the same and they won't notice a thing."

"Thank you." She whispered.

"I want you to promise me something."

"What?"

"That as long as you were this necklace, you will try your best to be happy. No matter what happens, 'Never stop smiling'."

"I-I promise."

Slowly, Ty Lee latched the necklace around her neck and slid it down her shirt. Then they made their way back to the house. When they went past the main room, Lee saw them.

"Children, come in here." He called. Ty Lee looked up at Kei, and he nodded, leading her in. "I have decided that tomorrow, Ty Lee will get to go to her first War Council."

* * *

** Okay, I know many of you have greatly anticipated this moment. in the next chapter Azula and Mai will finally come into the story!! Oh, and I forgot to put this at the top, But I was really busy the last few days, and I am going to be really busy the next few days, so if I can I will write the next chapter, but If can't it won't be updated for awhile. Please don't form an angry mob!  
**


	6. Enter: Azula, Mai, and ZuZu

**Sorry for the wait. I began to write the chapter, then my busy times came...Enter: Mai, Azula, and Zu-Zu!!! This one probably isn't that good, but the next one will, promise. Not quite sure what the next chapter is going to be about though...oh well, I'll think about it...while I am watching High school musical 2!!** **R&R**

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The carriage was being driven by two well-bred ostrich horses. Ty Lee and Kei sat in the back of the vehicle, while their father sat in the front. It was about an hour's drive, and Ty Lee was getting impatient. Kei seemed used to these rides, and she wished she had his experience. 

"Now, Ty Lee, today you are going to make new friends. Royal friends." Her father had explained earlier. "You will be the best of friends, and I will gain another link to being closer to the Royal Family." Ty Lee understood that her father was using her, but it would still be nice to make some friends.

Finally, the carriage stopped in front of an enormous palace. Ty Lee gasped. It was magnificent. The towers seemed to spiral up to the heavens. Kei leaned over.

"And to think this is just their summer cottage." He whispered. They exited the carriage and made their way over to the palace. At least five guards took their stand in front of the doorway. Lee showed them a document and they let him and his children pass through into the palace.

"Now, Kei, show Ty Lee where to find Zuko and his sister, what's-her-name." Kei nodded and took hold of his sister's hand. He led her down hallway after hallway. Her impatience was going to drive Ty Lee crazy. Then, suddenly, Kei stopped in front of a door.

"We're here." He said, opening it. Inside was a huge room that had other hallways connected to it. There was no one in sight. "They have to be somewhere. You'll find them. Go." Kei practically pushed her ahead while he went into one of the hallways.

Ty Lee soon found that she was all alone. Where were the friends her father had told her about? She decided to go with what Kei said and look for them. Gingerly she began to walk towards the hallway opposite of where he brother went. Ty Lee heard voices and began to go into a sprint. She stopped when the voices seemed loudest.

"…Mai, you aren't doing it right. And you have to do it right, or I'll tell Daddy."

Ty Lee was a little frightened. There seemed to be two girls in there, and one was shouting. But she had to do what her Father said. Slowly she opened the door in front of her.

All sounds stopped, and Ty Lee stood face-to-face with a girl about her age. She had black hair, and her eyes pierced into Ty Lee. She was pulling on another girl's long hair. A look of disgust filled her face.

"What are you doing here?" She snarled. She had a dull knife in her hand. Ty Lee's blood turned cold.

"I-I…I'm Ty Lee." She stuttered. "Are you Zuko's sister…uh…?"

"Azula." She replied frankly, "You must be Lee's daughter. And don't put me in the same rank as Zu-Zu. He's just known better because he is older."

"Oh…Okay." Ty Lee stammered, "Who are you?" She asked the other girl. She had long raven-black hair and was almost in tears.

"She's Mai." Azula said, "And she doesn't know how to play games right."

"But, I don't know this game." She protested.

"Its name tells you what it is. 'Cut Off the Hair'. It's pretty simple."

"But…I don't want to play this game!" Tears filled her eyes.

"Too late." Azula brandished the knife, and sliced Mai's hair off. A smile of satisfaction appeared. "Good, you won, Mai!" She turned to Ty Lee, "Why don't we let our new friend try?" Ty Lee backed up.

"How about…we play a different game..?" Ty Lee suggested.

"Aww…But I was just about to fix your ugly hairdo…oh well, you're the guest. For today, that is." Azula put the knife away in a cabinet drawer. "So, what did you have in mind?"

"We could…do cartwheels!" Ty Lee exclaimed.

"Hm? What kind of a game is that?"

"A fun one! Mai, come over here." Mai was sitting in front of a vanity trying to fix her new hair. She did as she was told. "Now, watch me." Ty Lee did a perfect cartwheel.

"What!? That isn't a game. What's the point in flipping your body around?" Azula smirked.

"There isn't a point. You just have fun!"

"…What if you don't know how to do a cartwheel?" Mai asked.

"I'll show you, it's easy!!" Ty Lee stood up tall. "First you have to bend your body to the side, like this. Then you put your hands like this. And you let your body fall to the ground, being caught by your hand. Finally you shift your weight to your other hand and let your body go back to normal." Ty Lee demonstrated the cartwheel. Mai looked amazed.

"So you can do some fancy flips. It doesn't mean anything. I can firebend. Can you do that?" Azula challenged.

"No, and I still have fun." Azula's chest deflated. "Can you do a cartwheel, Azula?"

"Well, I…" She stammered. "Yes! Yes I can!" She leaned over and began the maneuver. But her hands slipped and she fell over. Azula's eyes widened, "This doesn't mean anything!!"

"Hey, it's not your fault. It was your first time. Practice it a little and I am sure you will get it down." Ty Lee smiled.

"Guys! Look at me!" Mai cried. The two girls turned around and saw the unnoticed Mai do an almost perfect cartwheel. Azula marched up to her.

"How dare you embarrass me like that?" She growled. Mai stopped smiling and cowered.

"Stop it Azula!" Ty Lee said.

"…Oh well. Now I have a new best friend. Ty Lee, you are my friend…right?" Azula made her eyes big.

"Of course Azula. We will be best friends."

"That's good. Finally I will be able to hold my birthday party."

"What's that?"

"It's when you turn a year older and your friends bring you presents and you eat all the pineapple volcano cake you want! And this one is going to be special. I am going to call it…a 'sleep over'! Because you two are going to spend a night at the palace!" Ty Lee and Mai's eyes widened.

"Wow! Azula, I have to get you something amazing for your birthday." Ty Lee insisted.

"I know you do. The best and most expensive thing you can find if you can."

There was a loud knocking sound and Ty Lee turned around.

"Kei!" She exclaimed, running into her brother. Behind him was a boy a little younger then him.

"Ty Lee, this is Zuko." Kei explained.

"Hi Ty Lee…uh…Kei…do we have to.." Zuko looked afraid.

"No, I was just checking on her. She can be a mischievous poodlemonkey sometimes."

"Good. I want to train more. I'm sure that I will get that move down this time."

"In your dreams!" Azula said. Zuko shot her a look.

"Well, Zuko, we better go.." Kei turned to Ty Lee, "See you later."

Ty Lee watched as the two boys left the room. She turned around and went back to Mai and Azula.

"Your brother is half-bad looking." Azula pointed out. "Maybe I'll marry him…" Then she laughed.

"Your brother is pretty good looking too." Mai added, quickly blushing. Azula stared at her for a minute.

"Right, and Hogmonkeys are beautiful." She retorted. Mai blushed intensely. "He's too old for you anyways…"

"What are you implying!?" Mai cried out.

"Nothing, nothing at all…"

* * *

**Yes, a bit of Maiko and a new shipping I call Kezula or Azukei!!! Yes, the laughter was to cover up her real feelings. Azula is totally crushing. I hope I can write more with Zu-Zu, but I didn't have the time right now...oh well. More to come!  
**


	7. The Doctor's Visit

**Yeah! I am on a roll!!! Okay, new Character alert!!! This chappie is a bit mushy, so yeah...be prepared!!Part of teh story behind Sakura's ailment. R&R**

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Ty Lee raced into the grand hallway. Kei was right behind her, hot in pursuit. Out of a doorway came a servant and Ty Lee dashed under his legs, making him lose his balance. He tumbled over, and Kei was forced to jump over him. She was almost there, two more doors to go. She stopped at the door and waited patiently for Kei.

"She's going to be here today." Ty Lee whispered. Kei blushed. He opened the door slowly.

Inside, two doctors were performing medical procedures on Sakura, who seemed perfectly comfortable.

"Hi kids." She called. They waved. Kei strolled up casually to one of the nurses. Her brown hair almost whipped his face as she turned around.

"Oh, hello Kei." She greeted.

"Hello, Miyako." He blushed. "So, how is she doing?"

"Better than the last check-up. But still, the sickness hasn't left her. We have tried all the antidotes and remedies possible to the Fire Nation's abilities. If only we could get some Earth Kingdom doctors…"

"Yeah, but that probably won't happen."

"Still, we could barter. Some of our knowledge for theirs."

"If we happen to not tell them we're Fire Nation."

"Yeah…we could do that. Some of our students have Earth Kingdom traits…"

"…Like you?" She blushed. "You with your beautiful eyes…"

"Stop it, Kei!" She squealed. "Back to the diagnosis. I think if we find this certain plant, the Jade Lotus, which is said to be the rarest plant in the whole world, we may have a chance to have the sickness diminish."

"Let me guess. The only place to find it is in the Earth Kingdom?"

"Nice try. Actually, the location is unknown. It hasn't been seen in several years. Maybe even before the Air Nomads were wiped out. All we have is this picture." She handed him a scroll which he opened.

"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Ty Lee whimpered. He lowered it so she could see it. It was a beautiful plant, with four gentle petals of jade. In the middle were four stalks of seeds, each seeming to drip with gold. Ty Lee gasped. "This is the plant that will save Mama?" Kei's head seemed to droop.

"Ty Lee, Mama will never get better. The sickness is going to kill her eventually. Everyone will die eventually. But this plant will help her live longer. So she may see you grow up a bit more."

"But until we find that plant," Miyako added, "We will need to find the next best thing. And yes, Kei, this is in the Earth Kingdom."

"So, why did you come here today?" Kei asked, "You are supposed to be studying abroad. In the Fire Nation capital. Not here, in the countryside."

"Well, that is exactly why I came. I have volunteered to find this plant for your mother. I will dress up as an Earth Kingdom nurse, and simply trade one plant for another."

"But, that is dangerous. If they find out your Fire Nation…"

"I know Kei. I wouldn't do this for anyone else, but this is…your mother." She smiled, "I want her to be alive when you finally are old enough to make the decision."

"I am old enough. Father won't let me until I master firebending. But you know that won't be long. You will probably be back by then. And you already know I have made the decision."

"What decision!? What decision!?" Ty Lee asked. Kei and Miyako burst out laughing. Miyako moved over to one of the doctors.

"Doctor, is it okay if I talk to the son of the patient personally outside?" He nodded, and Miyako motioned for Kei to go outside. Ty Lee moved over to Sakura.

"Honey, I heard you made friends with Ozai's girl." Sakura smiled.

"Yep, I'm going to her birthday party."

"How nice."

"Mama?"

"Yes?"

"Does your sickness hurt you?" Sakura grew silent.

"Yes, Ty Lee, it does. But I've gotten used to it. I still smile."

"Mama, I'm going to find that flower for you."

"Oh, honey. You can't do that…"

"Well, I'll try my best!"

"…You do that, sweetie." One of the doctors came over and told Ty Lee that is was time to go, and that her mother would be back later that night. She slumped outside. At least she knew she would see Mama at dinner. But where would she find that plant?

As she turned down the hall she heard voices in the room next door. Slowly, she approached the door and opened it. Miyako and Kei were shocked to see her. They were leaning on the wall in an empty room, and seemed to be in the middle of a conversation.

"What are you two doing…?" Ty Lee asked.

"Talking." They said at the same time. Then they kissed. Miyako was laughing.

"Ewww…you guys are gross. Why don't you just marry her, Kei?"

"All in due time, Ty Lee."

"So you are going to get the replacement plant?" Ty Lee asked.

"Yes."

"Good luck."

"Thank you."

"I'm going to try to find the real plant!"

"I bet you are." Miyako laughed again.

"But really, I bet I can…"

"Ty Lee, I'm not going to see Miyako for awhile, could you leave us alone?" Kei said.

"I won't see her for awhile either!"

"…True.." He thought aloud.

"Come on, Kei. I need to spend time with the little poodlemonkey too!" Miyako ruffled Ty Lee's hair. "So, I hear you have made some new friends?"

"Yeah, Azula and Mai. Azula is kind of bossy, but she is really cool. We played an easy version of Pai Sho. Not like the boring one you play, Kei. Ours had animal figurines, and I was the hogmonkey. I wanted to be the dragon, but Azula was always the dragon. Mai didn't play. She doesn't like to do much. And…" Ty Lee turned around and saw them kissing again, "Are you listening to me at all!!?" She stomped off, "Love…" She said, disgusted.

Ty Lee walked over to the small pond. She leaned over the bridge and stared at her reflection. But she did want love. She just didn't like it when got in between her and her brother. Oh well, it is life.

* * *

**Okay, it wasn't that bad. I have plans for that plant and Miyako. This is not the end! MWAHAHAHA!! Yeah, I think the next chapter is going to be about the Birthday party, but I might have a last minute idea...so yeah.**


	8. Shopping

**I think this is the longest chapter I have written...Wow. Or maybe I just think it is... But it is pretty cute. My interpretation of a Poodlemonkey, fyi is like Momo except with poodle ears, poodle taill, and ppodle fur everywhere except its face and tips of its hands and feet. I drew a picture of it, and it is so cute. Maybe I'll show it to you guys sometime..! Oh yes, Flaming Fire Flakes (from 'the deserter') makes an appearence. It even has it's own song. Thank you for all of your support. I couldn't of got this far without my loyal readers. R&R**

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The morning rays danced on Ty Lee's face as she woke up the next morning. She yawned and began to dress herself. She had to look her best if she was going to pull this off. 

She ran off into Kei's room. He was sound asleep.

"Kei! Kei! Wake up, sleepy-head!" She cried as she jumped on his bed. He awoke with a start, and quickly grabbed his pillow. Ty Lee didn't see the projectile coming. Feathers flew everywhere. But they just laughed.

"Kei, today we have to go to the marketplace so I can get Azula a birthday present." Ty Lee explained.

"Oh, so you want me to ask Father for you?" She nodded. "Okay, let me get ready." He picked up his patch and tied it around his head. Then he threw a tunic on and some leggings. "Come on, we better hurry." He took hold of Ty Lee with one hand and his shoes with the other. They dashed down the halls. Soon they reached the smaller dining hall. Lee and Sakura were eating. The meal was rice cakes with a hint of coconut. Ty Lee and Kei took their seats.

"Hello, children." Lee stated bluntly, "How was your sleep?"

"Good Father!" They chimed at the same time.

"That's good…" Lee continued to eat. The room was silent for a few minutes. Ty Lee struggled to eat. She was so excited to go shopping, that she was jittery. Kei had better ask him soon, or he was dead.

"…So, Father…." Kei started, "Ty Lee is going to Azula's birthday party tomorrow…and she needs a gift suitable for, well one of the royal family. So we were wondering if we could go to the mar-"

"You get two-hundred gold pieces. This is for your gift and lunch. I expect three gold pieces left over for me, to show that you are responsible. If you have more than three gold pieces after you buy the necessities, you can spend it on your choice. One servant will go with you, your pick. I expect you two to be home before dinner." Lee said with no emotion whatsoever. Ty Lee and Kei were speechless.

"..Okay, could Tay go with us..?" Kei managed to get out.

"Yes, I will inform him immeadiatley." Lee called for his personal servant and told him to get Tay. "So, what are you waiting for, get ready! Tay and your money will be here for you once you are done. Then, it is to the marketplace!"

Ty Lee and Kei walked quickly down the halls.

"The only reason he is letting me go is because it is for someone of the royal family." Ty Lee whispered sadly. Kei ruffled her hair.

"Don't get down, remember?" She smiled. "That's what I want to see."

Ty Lee entered her room and walked to the vanity. She stared in the mirror for a few seconds, and decided to leave it be. She didn't want to attract the wrong attention in a crowd. Kei came into her room and motioned for her to come on.

Tay was obviously pleased to be off his normal duties. The grin on his face almost reached Ba Sing Se.

"Here is the money." Lee said, handing a sack to Kei. "I expect you to be careful and…" Suddenly every muscle in his body seemed to twitch as he formed the words that seemed to be so difficult, "…make…sure your…sister…stays safe." Ty Lee's heart seemed to ache. Why was she different than her brother? Why couldn't her father love her like her loved him?

She felt better once they were a few minutes away from her house. The sun was shining, and she heard the songs of several birds she couldn't name. What could ruin this day?

The marketplace was bustling and buzzing with excitement. Men and women from all corners of the Fire Nation were in one place. Ty Lee was amazed. They walked straight into the middle of the crowd, towards the crafting area. Something caught Ty Lee's eye, and she pointed to it.

"Can we go in there, just to look, please!!?" She asked. It was a pet store. Kei shrugged.

"If you are quick about it." Ty Lee squealed. She just adored animals.

The store seemed bigger from the outside. A Reptile Bird screeched as they entered.

"Hello, welcome to Dami's Pet Shack. We have them all." The store owner announced. He walked from behind the counter and approached Ty Lee, "Why, hello, little girl. What's your favorite animal?"

"A poodlemonkey!" Ty Lee exclaimed with no hesitation.

"Well, what a lucky girl you are! We happen to have one in stock. You want to see him?"

"Yeah! Yeah!" She cried. Dami led her to the back room. Kei and Tay followed them. He took a cage and opened it. Ty Lee gasped. The fur was so fluffy and the face was irresistible. Not at all like the Hogmonkeys. This one was much smaller and its eyes were big. It was almost like a lemur.

Ty Lee reached out and petted it. The poodlemonkey made a soft cooing sound.

"Ah, he likes you." Dami explained.

"Really?"

"Yep, won't do that to too many folks that come around here."

"Wow…I wish we could get him…but my…"

"Yeah, I understand little girl. I can tell you come from a wealthy family. No pets allowed, right?"

"Yeah, exactly…"

"Well, I got something for you." Dami walked back around the counter. He returned with a little figurine shaped like a poodlemonkey. Ty Lee gasped.

"For me?"

"Yeah, it has a clasp on it, so you can put it on a chain and carry it wherever you want to go."

"Thanks, thanks a lot!" Ty Lee grabbed the necklace out from her shirt and clicked the figure on it. Tay looked at Kei and smiled. Kei began to rummage through the sack.

"No, young man. This is for free." Dami said.

"Please, take a gold piece, it won't burden us." Kei explained.

"Yeah, we have one-hundred-ninety-nine more!" Ty Lee said. Kei glared at her.

"Well, if you insist…" Dami snatched the gold piece from Kei's hand. They hurried out of the store so they could get going.

"We should probably go to a gift store, like this one ahead." Tay pointed in front to a larger store. They entered it. Inside were many different things. Ty Lee looked around. Then she saw it.

"Look Kei, look!" She exclaimed. Kei walked over there.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"It's a firebending dragon!"

"…What does it do?"

"It says here 'The Jade Firebending Dragon helps young firebenders learn to use their breath of fire. Simply place mouth on the tail and breathe the fire through it. It appears that the dragon is breathing fire.' That sounds perfect. Azula will be so pleased!" Kei looked at the price.

"…Oh, uh….gosh…a hundred gold pieces? I guess we'll be eating flaming fire flakes for lunch…" Kei mumbled.

"Yeah! Flaming fire flakes!!" Ty Lee cried. Tay and Kei groaned. Kei went to the counter.

"Hello, ma'am. I would like to buy this Jade Firebending Dragon, please." He said to the cashier. She was a little older than Kei, and seemed to be staring at him. "Uh, ma'am?"

"Why do you wear a patch?" She asked.

"I uh…" Kei blushed. "I burnt my eye out." She gasped.

"No way, you're lying to me!" She exclaimed.

"No, I did it when I was born."

"Then show me." She dared. Kei blushed more, and slowly flipped up his patch revealing an empty socket. "Oh my, I am so sorry. I thought…well a lot of pirates have been around here lately and I am supposed to keep my eye out, no pun intended, for them. I wasn't sure…If I made you feel bad, I am terribly sorry."

"Its okay, it happens all the time." Kei placed the patch back on. He still seemed upset though. He bought the dragon and they headed out to get lunch.

"Flaming…flaming…fire flakes!" Ty Lee sang out. She looked back and saw Kei. "Kei, what's the matter?" Kei seemed surprised.

"Nothing, why?"

"It is something, isn't it?"

"Well, it is just hard to be different sometimes, okay?"

"Your boo-boo?"

"Yeah, that."

"Okay then…I guess I'll have to-Hey look! The flaming fire flakes vendor!" Kei laughed. Tay was already ordering their food, and Ty Lee was licking her lips. Tay returned with three bags of flaming fire flakes. Kei threw a handful in the air, and set them on fire with his firebending.

"Ah, burnt. Just the way I like them." He commented. Ty lee scooped up a few and thrust them in her mouth.

"I love the way they make my mouth tingle!" She said. Tay handed Kei the sack. They stopped at a fountain and sat down to rest. Kei opened the sack and started counting. At '_1_' Ty Lee pulled at Kei's sleeve.

"Kei, can I throw a piece in the fountain?"

"Yeah, sure…" He handed her one.

'_I wish I could go back to the swamp_.' She wished. Then she closed her eyes, turned around and threw it behind her head.

"So, what did you wish for?" Tay asked.

"Not telling, it will ruin it." Ty Lee explained. Kei continued to count. '_1…2……2…2…'_ Kei suddenly jolted up. He dove into the fountain and tried to pull out the piece.

"No! Stop it Kei! You will ruin my wish!" Ty Lee cried. Kei came up sopping wet.

"Since when did the cost of flaming fire flakes go up?" Kei asked. Tay shrugged. "Man, we need one more piece, or Father will kill us…"

"I've got an idea!" Ty Lee said. She walked over to the other side of the fountain and yelled, "Everyone! Come and see the amazing girl do unthinkable tricks! Tips are welcomed!" Kei gasped and began to run over but it was too late. A crowd had already formed around his sister.

Ty Lee started with a triple flip, causing several cheers. Then she did a bridge which then helped her start to stand on her fingers. Ever so carefully, she lifted up each finger until only her pointer and middle remained. Then she flipped backwards. Ty Lee lifted her right leg and began to stretch it up to her head. Then she sat down and stretched both legs all the way out on either side of her body. Gasps erupted in the crowd, and she jumped up, higher than all the people. She landed in a bow, and the crowd applauded. She waited a few seconds and looked up again. Everyone was gone. She looked down and saw a single gold piece. '_Guess I didn't dazzle them enough…'_

"Ty Lee, that was phenomenal!" Tay said. She turned around and saw Kei, who was holding the now filled sack.

"You got us way more than one gold piece." Kei smiled.

"I guess fancy flips are worth something now." Ty Lee said.

"Oh, more than Father could ever know." And they both laughed as they started their way home.

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**Okay, I know you want to read about the b-day party, but, I am making you wait a whole nother chapter! Sorry, I don't mean to disapoint you, but I have to add this part before the party. It should be short though...I hope you like my interpretation of a Fire Nation marketplace, even though I didn't really describe it at all...lol. **


	9. Preparations

**I know, I am still working on this story. Fiddler is just something I want to do if I get bored of writing this, which sometimes, shockingly,I do. Unfortunately, at the moment I have, like five new stories in my head!! One Sonic one, one ...I regret these next three, Bionicle one, one Teenage Mutant ninja turtle one, and one Transformers one! It is hard not to just start writing those, but I am at the top of my game in this story. This is sort of a filler, but I had to tell you that Kei was going to do something tha tI shall not reveal until you read it, before she went to the party. so yeah, R&R**

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Kei threw several blue fire balls in front of him. Kick. Hit. Hit. Kick.

"Good, Good." Sifu Abu commented. "But you have already mastered those maneuvers. It is time for you to master lightning. Then you will be done in this dojo."

"But Sifu!" Kei cried. He turned to Ty Lee, who was lounging on the wall. She mouthed 'Miyako'. "Okay, I'll try…" He started breathing. Then he moved his hands around with his pointer and middle finger out. The lightning appeared and Kei kept breathing. Then he stopped and pointed his fingers towards an unlit candle. It caught aflame. He did the same to two more candles.

"Stop." Sifu Abu commanded, "Your skills have greatly developed. I expect you to master lightning…mmm…in a week or so..."

"Really?" Kei exclaimed.

"Really, now go, you are dismissed."

Kei ran outside with Ty Lee following him.

"Ty Lee, I can't believe this! My dreams with Miyako may finally happen!"

"You think she'll be home in a week or so?" Ty Lee asked.

"Perhaps…"

"Good. But Kei…If you marry Miyako, will you still be my brother?" Kei laughed, but stopped when he saw her serious expression.

"First of all, we would be engaged, not married until Miyako finishes her school. And second of all, yes! We would live here in the spare cottage until I inherit the estate."

"Oh, that's good. I don't know if I could make it without you." Ty Lee smiled.

"Hey, you're going to Azula's birthday party today, right?"

"Yep. She said she has a surprise for us."

"You go have fun, alright?"

"Alright!"

"That's my poodlemonkey!" Kei looked up, "You better get ready, the royal escorting guys should be here soon."

"You're right!" Ty Lee ran into the house as quickly as she could. Inside, she maneuvered over to her mother's room, where she was patiently waiting.

"So, are you ready to get ready?" Sakura asked.

"Sure am!"

"Then let's go to your room." They walked over to the room across from hers.

"I want to wear the silkiest kimono I have!" Ty Lee said.

"Okay, how about this one?" Sakura pointed to a light pink kimono with white flowers on it.

"That will work." Ty Lee changed quickly behind the curtain and came out. "I can't tie the ribbon in the back again."

"Here you go." Her mother said as she turned it into a bow.

"And I want to do something special for my hair…Like a white bow at the end of the ponytail!"

"I can do that." Sakura smiled as she picked up a big ribbon from the vanity and tied it in Ty Lee's hair.

"Perfect, do I look good enough for Azula?"

"You look good enough for the Fire Lord himself."

"But I still need my platform shoes." Ty Lee reminded, as she searched the room. "Where could they be?"

"Perhaps under your bed, as they always are?" Sakura guessed. Ty Lee looked, and sure enough they were.

"Thanks, Mama, I don't think I could manage without you."

"Now, go along, I believe your escorts are here."

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**I regret writing this chapter, but the next one is going to be awesome. and the next one, and the next one, which I have alredy strategically planned out in my head. Unfotrunately, I am going to the doctors tommorow and i might be getting some shots..which I am deathly afraid of. So please, pray that either I won't get any, I won't feel a thing, or teh doctor's forgot I had to get some, even though they promised I wouuldn't get any more for the next four years... **


	10. The Birthday Surprise

**Hey, I got my shots yesterday. A chicken pox booster, not the one you get when you are born some different one, and another one I do't remember. It went better than I thought,and now I am back to writing. And this is the chapter you have all been waiting for, Azula's b-day party, Part 1!! Remeber how in "Zuko Alone," Ty Lee and Mai are in one of the flashbacks? Well, those events happened the second day of Azula's B-day party. The next chapter still happens on the same day as this, but if I write on the next next chapter "one week after the events in "Zuko Alone" that means after the a-pple game and such, capeesh? **

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Azula's father's palace was a lot larger than Ty Lee expected. And this wasn't even the Fire Lord's home, just his son's! The escorts seemed nice, but they didn't say anything. They just sat and guided the carriage. By now, Ty Lee hated carriage rides. It was much more fun to walk through the world and see it, instead of being driven there.

The escorts tried to give Ty Lee a lift out of the carriage, but she just flipped out. It was much easier. Azula and Mai were waiting at the front gate.

"There you are Ty Lee! We were so worried you wouldn't make it in time for Daddy's big birthday surprise. I already know what it is, of course. But you two don't."

"Hey Ty Lee…" Mai managed to get out.

"Hi Mai!" She ran up and hugged her. "Happy Birthday Azula!" She was about to hug Azula, but the princess declined.

"And what a wonderful eighth birthday it will be."

"Hey, I'm going to be eight this year too!" Ty Lee exclaimed.

"…I'm going to be nine…" Mai added. Azula's face seemed to melt.

"What!? I am supposed to be the oldest! Change your age!"

"Silly Azula, you can't change your age…" Ty Lee tried to explain.

"…How true…oh well, I guess I am the most mature of you two anyways..." Azula covered up a sigh, "We better get to the surprise." She snapped her fingers, and two guards opened up the gates, "It is the best present ever."

Ty Lee and Mai walked through the gates behind Azula. In front of them was the palace. But to the left was another gate, with some noises behind it.

"That's the surprise." Azula said, pointing to the other gate. "I'll get Zu-Zu, and then we can go in."

"That's okay, I'm already here," Zuko said, walking down from the steps of the palace. "I don't know why Father is giving you this, when all I got was two broadswords."

"Daddy just knows I was meant to be spoiled."

"Yeah right."

"No, I mean it." Azula sneered, "He knows that you are weak, and I am stronger."

"Whatever."

"Azula, can we see the surprise now?" Ty Lee asked.

"Of course." She motioned for them to head towards the gate. A guard stood at the front, and he moved out of the way and signaled for the men to open the gates. Ty Lee watched as they moved towards the wooden gates that were slowly opening. They reached the gates before they were opened all the way, but Ty Lee knew what was inside them.

"A zoo!" She cried.

"Yep, Azula's own personal zoo." Azula proclaimed proudly.

"…wow…"Mai said, holding Ty Lee's hand. "…This has everything."

"Well, almost. I heard there was a serpent in a lake in the Earth Kingdom, but Daddy said it was too big. Oh well…" Azula faked a sigh. She smiled, "Okay, we are using buddy system here. I am partners with Mai…and Ty Lee is with Zu-Zu." Mai looked horrified, and so did Zuko.

"What!? No fair Azula. I am not dragging around some…"Zuko started.

"Or would you rather be with me or Mai?" Azula flashed a wicked grin, Zuko looked at Mai, who was blushing intensely, and got Azula's picture.

"Okay…come on, Ty Lee." He grunted, grabbing her hand with a death grip.

"Zuko!?" Mai cried out on accident, causing more blushes.

"Yeah, uh….Jai?" Zuko tried. Mai seemed close to tears.

"Uh….be careful…." She said.

"Okay…is it Fai?" Mai shook her head. "Oh, wait, I got it! Rai!" Mai just turned around in disbelief. Azula seemed to be enjoying this.

"Why would he have to be careful at a zoo? Mai, you crack me up sometimes."

"…yeah…" Mai said, sniffling.

"Oh, it's Mai, huh?"

"It doesn't matter anymore, Zu-Zu. Face it, you've hurt her feelings. Leave before you cause more damage to her fragile spirit." Azula reprimanded.

"…Sorry, Mai. Let's go, Ty Lee." Zuko said as he led Ty Lee to one of the exhibits. Before they were out of earshot, Ty Lee managed to hear Mai crying and Azula laughing.

They stopped at the first animal, which was a rabiroo.

"Look, Zuko. They use their pouches to hold their babies." Ty Lee informed. Zuko stared closely at it.

"Seems a little over-protective." He remarked.

The next animal was a Koalaotter.

"How cute! Look at him swimming!" Ty Lee squealed. The Koalaotter swam around in circles, and then swam under the water. Ty Lee seemed disappointed that the animal was out of sight, and Zuko noticed that.

"Ty Lee, look at this." Zuko said, pointing to a hole in the wall below the exhibit. "Put your eyes to the hole."

Ty Lee got close to the hole and looked through it. There was a glass lining between her and the water, but inside she could see the Koalaotter, doing flips and turns under the water.

"Wow…this is incredible!" She said as she drew back.

"I thought you would like it." Zuko smiled.

Many more animals continued, such as the Platypus Bear, and the Gorilla Goat. Zuko and Ty Lee shared little conversation, but were obviously enjoying the zoo. The next exhibit they came to was empty.

"I wonder what was in here." Zuko pondered. Ty Lee bent over and looked at the calligraphy engraved in the exhibit's rock.

"What does this say, Zuko?"

"Hm…it says …'Poodlemonkey.'"

"Huh? Then where are they?" Ty Lee whimpered as she examined the exhibit. There was nothing separating them from where the animals are, though you would have to jump to get in because they were down on a slope so they could not escape. But there was a tree in the middle tall enough for a poodlemonkey to jump off of to get away.

Ty Lee turned and saw that Zuko had pulled something from a bag. It appeared to be a whistle.

"Watch this." He blew through the whistle, which looked like a banana. It was a shrieking sound, and Ty Lee had to cover her ears. She looked up for second and stared at the tree. Suddenly, two heads pooped out.

"Poodlemonkey!!" She cried. "They are my most favorite animals."

"You have to admit, they are cute." Zuko said. One poodlemonkey slid down the tree and began to roll down the slope. Ty Lee laughed.

The next and last animal was the mongoose dragon. By now they had caught back up with Azula and Mai.

"Hello, you two. Having fun?" Azula asked. They nodded. "Good…Guess what, Ty Lee and Mai? I'm breeding these mongoose dragons, and Daddy said I can learn how to ride them. They are babies now, but they will grow quickly. Maybe you can ride them too. There are three, and I can't ride all of them."

"Wow that would be awesome Azula, thanks."

"It's the least I could do." Azula smiled, "Now everyone, com inside for cake and the rest of the party!"

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**OKay, the mongoose dragon part is forshadowing, cuz They all use mongoose dragons in "The Chase", So I think they may come back later and they all learn how to ride one. **


	11. Present Time

**Wow, I keep poking and prodding at Mai, I mean..yeha, you'll see in a few seconds. But this chapter was hard to write. I had to make Azula insult Iroh, who is my second fave character behind Ty Lee, and it was hard. He gets a pretty big role in this, but you don't know it yet. Remember, this is still the day before the first flashback in "Zuko Alone". That will be important in the next chapter. Oh, yeah. It is present time!!!!** **R&R**

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"Wow, Azula. I never thought that pineapple volcano cake tasted so good." Zuko commented. "It always looked so…blown up… I couldn't tell. But, now I love it."

"I know someone else who loved it," Azula smirked looking at Mai, who was holding her stomach in pain.

"Too…tempting…" Mai gasped, "Where is a bathroom…?"

"Over there…but hurry, I am opening my presents soon!!" Azula pointed. Mai ran as fast as she could. "Of course, I have already got two of my presents."

"What else did you get, Azula?" Ty Lee asked.

"Oh, my crazy old uncle is sending me something, but he is getting something for Zu-Zu too, so it doesn't really count."

"Who is your uncle?"

"Oh, his name is Iroh, and he is a general in the army. He is taking over Ba Sing Se right now, but I doubt he'll go through with it. He is too obsessed with tea to do anything else."

"That's not true, Azula!" Zuko said, "Uncle is a wonderful general, and he will take down Ba Sing Se. He is also an awesome firebender. Nothing could ever take him down, not even his love of tea."

"The loss of his beloved 'took him down'." Azula reminded with a sneer.

"But only for a few months, he bounced right back!!"

"What if he lost his son, too?" Azula challenged. Zuko stepped back, horrified.

"You are evil Azula! How dare you just use Lu-Ten as a reason for Uncle to not be able to capture Ba Sing Se!? Lu-Ten is a person, not just something he loves." Zuko almost cried out.

"..You are just saying that because Lu-Ten was the brother you never had, until he decided to join the army. Now you have decided that Kei will take his place. Well forget it! You don't have anyone to defend you anymore!!!" Azula cried.

"Stop it!" Ty Lee yelled. "All of you!" The arguing siblings turned ad looked at her, "It is time for Azula to open presents." She gestured at Mai, who had just returned from her call of nature.

"You are right. Let's see what you three got me." Azula smiled.

Azula showed them into a room and told them where to put the presents. She decided to start with Zuko's.

"Let's see what Zu-Zu brought me…" she said. Carefully, she undid the bow and opened the box. Her eyes widened as she lifted the gift from the box. It was a seashell covered in diamonds. "What is this?!" She demanded, waving it in his face.

"A homemade craft filled with love." Zuko stated sarcastically.

"Here is how I feel about your…" She crunched the seashell in her hands and began to burn it slowly, "Dumb present!! Though I will keep the diamonds, they are a nice touch." The seashell cracked leaving only the precious jewels. Ty Lee wondered if Azula would like her present. It was made of jade so she can't destroy it. Or could she?

"Mai is next!" Azula insisted. Mai seemed startled.

"Oh…Azula, I hope you are not disappointed… I did the best I could do…" Mai began, but Azula shushed her. This present was easy to open.

"Oh my…" Azula said. "It's…what is it…Mai?" Azula held up the object in question.

"It is a hair-holder. It has a nice Fire Emblem on it and it holds up your bun…and the band is made of solid gold…" Mai explained. Azula looked at the holder, with the emblem and gold, "It may be a bit too big right now…you'll grow into it…"

"Thanks, Mai. I love it! I will wear it everyday once it fits." Azula attempted to put it on, but when she walked around it wiggled off. "Now, it is Ty Lee's turn…" Azula ripped the box to shreds and revealed the jade dragon. "…..A dragon…made of jade…?" Azula seemed disappointed, and glared at Ty Lee.

"Uh…actually, it is a firebending instrument. You firebend through it's tail with your mouth and it comes out it's mouth, and it helps you train your breath of fire." Ty Lee said all she could remember from the tag.

"…I guess it has some use after all, if what you are saying is true." Azula put her mouth to the tail and blew fire out; making it look like the dragon was breathing fire. Azula seemed dumfounded. Ty Lee could tell she thought that she was lying.

"Wait, you know your breath of fire already!?" Zuko cried, "I have to advance a few more levels before I can master that…."

"Yeah, learned it more than a year ago. It is pretty simple, you just…" Azula began.

"I don't want to know how you do it. I will learn it myself." Zuko insisted.

"I bet Iroh would show you, if he even comes back…" Azula sneered.

"That's it!" Zuko screamed lunging for his sister. Ty Lee had to push Mai back to prevent being caught in it. When you can't firebend, or fight in any other way, there isn't much you can do when to firebenders are fighting.

Zuko began throwing fireball after fireball, which Azula simply repelled with a shield of blazes. Two servants walked by, saw the fighting, and ran to inform Lady Ursa. Azula flipped from defensive, to offensive and dodged each fireball, running closer to Zuko. Ty Lee realized, as each opponent moved, the space to stay out of the way grew smaller. She had to get herself and Mai to safety, but how?

Ty Lee looked over and a doorway. A way out! She took hold of Mai's hand and bolted out. Mai was hyperventilating.

"Mai! Calm down. We are out of the room." Ty Lee said. Mai turned around and sighed. This was going to be a long night…

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**I'm sorry, this is a cliffhanger (The fighting part, I mena) The fight ends later when Lady Ursa comes in and reprimends them. The next chapter is realllllly important, so I cna't waster time with a nother filler aobut how Ursa stopped the fighting firebending siblings...The hair-holder is the same one Azula wears in the series. Thank you Waterbender42 for giving me that last minute idea via phone. And the talk about Iroh teaching Zuko the breath of fire is actually foreshadowing, because he does in the siege of the north part 1, or at least he mentions teaching him it.oh well, next chappie should be up soon.**


	12. The Swamp

**Hey, sorry for the loooooooong wait. I was busy... :) This is a very emotional chapter, and it has certain beliefs about Avatar that I think is true. You might not, but I have facts to back it up. I will explain that at the end. Also, many appearances from friends of the Book Water, and just the whole series. R&R**

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One week after when Ty Lee appears in "Zuko Alone"

"Mama! Mama!" Ty Lee screamed as the doctors forced her out of the room. She clearly remembered what they told her, 'She had a panic attack and may not make it through the night…' Now they won't even let her she her. Kei ran up from his room.

"Ty Lee, we have to go to bed…" Kei said, "There is nothing we can do now.."

"But I didn't say goodbye…" Ty Lee was wailing.

"We may not have to say goodbye.." Kei reminded. "Now go to bed, I hate it when you are grumpy in the morning."

"Okay…" She whimpered, running back to her room. Crying in her pillow, Ty Lee wished she could do something. But Kei said they couldn't do anything. Ty Lee decided to try her best to find a way. But she was too tired to think anymore. Slowly she drifted off to sleep.

Ty Lee awoke in a familiar yet unfamiliar place. Coolness wafted above her head, and she got up. It was the swamp.

The boy was in the same place he was before, and it was if she had never left.

"Hey, you! Can you help me!?" Ty Lee called. "I need to find…" But something happened to the boy. Suddenly a layer of ice seemed to envelop him, and he disappeared. Ty Lee bent over and cried. It wasn't fair. She was finally back, but Mama was going to die, and the swamp held no meaning anymore.

She walked around for awhile and saw a doorpost. Maybe it led somewhere. Ty Lee walked through it. It felt like she was walking through water. She came out in what appeared to be the normal world. But not Fire Nation.

Something was different though, and Ty Lee soon found out. She was floating! And transparent too! What was happening!?

"Please…I need to find this plant…" Ty Lee heard a familiar voice cry. It was Miyako, discussing something with an old lady.

"I'm sorry, but Miyuki and I have never seen this plant anywhere. Only heard about it. Haven't we, Miyuki…" The lady rubbed her small white cat.

"But I need to find the Jade Lotus. Someone's life is in danger!" Miyako insisted.

"I am afraid it has gone extinct. And since I have the most plants in the world, and I don't have it, you are out of luck."

"Well, what about the Jade supplement; the companion flowers?"

"Hm…Oh yes, we had one of those. But that was an important ingredient for Miyuki's dinner. Now wasn't it. I'm afraid I used the last of it today. Nothing I can do for you sweetie." The old lady went back into her house and left Miyako outside. Miyako fell to her knees and cried.

Ty Lee was scared. What was she seeing? What was happening now to Miyako? Ty Lee moved herself over to Miyako and patted her back. It felt like flying in gentle movements, yet it was terrifying in the same way.

Miyako seemed startled and looked up.

"Who is that?" She asked, almost looking straight at Ty Lee, yet past her.

"She can't see me…" Ty Lee thought aloud, which caused no reaction from her friend. But if what she just saw was real, that meant Miyako hasn't found the plant, and that means…Ty Lee didn't want to think about it. Slowly she let herself be drawn back into the doorpost.

When she returned to the swamp, something seemed to call her. She followed it until she reached a cave. Suddenly, fear seemed to consume her body. What was in the cave? She heard voices, and stepped back, uncertain. Maybe she should try to listen to what is happening.

"Why? What did I do to deserve this?" A smooth, yet scary voice asked almost sarcastically. Ty Lee shuddered.

"You took him! You didn't have to, and you took him!" A man called, enraged.

"I needed him for my collection. I should take you too, but you can mask your emotion so well. You sound angry, but your expression shows nothing. You have been practicing."

"But he was all I had!" The man insisted, "Koh, you have no right to live!"

"Now, now. I was instructed to do this task."

"What…? By whom?"

"Myself."

"Koh, give me Lu-Ten now!!!" A blast of fire shot out of the cave, and Ty Lee had to jump up to a tree to dodge it. Lu-Ten? Wait…was this Iroh?

"You better leave now, before I reconsider taking you as well." The voice, Koh, hissed.

"I'd rather you do that. I'd gladly give myself up for him!"

"Hm…but anguish and grief are part of you, and more will come in your future. I can tell you that future, if you would like." Iroh, if that is who he is, remained silent, as if beckoning him to continue, "It is Zuko. He will lose his honor and become banished. Azula will…well, she already is evil. And the Avatar will return. You will see him in your lifetime, because you will be hunting him down. All that to regain your little nephew's honor." Ty Lee sensed a bit of a sardonic cast in his voice.

"You are lying." Iroh said, almost asking.

"Look within yourself. It will tell you." Another shot of fire sprang out of the cave, and Ty Lee saw Iroh walk out. He was younger than Azula seemed to describe him, but he obviously wasn't old…yet. Ty Lee jumped down from the tree, causing Iroh to jump a bit. He was crying, and his sobs were causing his shoulders to shake.

"Iroh…" Ty Lee began.

"Who are you?" Iroh asked.

"That isn't important right now. I just know we are both having a hard time. Mama might die tonight." Ty Lee said. "I know Lu-Ten was important to you. Azula told me that. But, try to stay focused. I'm sure there is a way to get your son back. I can find it. I am good at doing that."

"I appreciate the thought, little girl. But, I am afraid that Lu-Ten is going to be stuck in that cave forever."

"Not after I find him!" Ty Lee cried, bolting for the cave. Iroh ran after her.

"Little girl! Little girl, you can't! Koh will…" But Ty Lee didn't listen to him. Into the cave she dove. It was quiet, yet there was an odd sense of ones presence in the cave. She lingered forward, slightly intrigued at the notion. Who was this Koh?

Iroh had entered as well, for his yells were echoing the walls. Something moved out of the corner of Ty Lee's eyes. She turned, and saw nothing. Again, a black slither to her right, and she spun. In front of her was what seemed to be an enormous bug. A harmless bug, in fact. What was so terrible about a bug?

It swiveled around, and Ty Lee saw a face, like that of the plays Mama used to see. A Noh mask, if she was correct. It smiled. Suddenly the mask seemed to be eaten by the bug, and a face of a hogmonkey appeared screaming wildly. It was coming toward her. She screamed and tried to run, but her fear engulfed her. Her legs wouldn't obey her. Why did she go in this cave in the first place?

She closed her eyes and winced, waiting. Nothing happened. Where is her untimely death? Slowly, she opened her eyes, and saw Iroh, standing in front of her. He walked back, and she did also, moving out of the cave. The blackness of the cave seemed to go on forever. They hadn't walked that far in, had they?

Finally, they were out. Iroh turned around and looked at the girl.

"You should have listened to me. Koh loves the faces of children." He said. She nodded, still scared.

"Do you know much about plants, Iroh?" Ty Lee asked. The man looked at her, and then smiled.

"I wouldn't say I was an expert, but…" He admitted, "But I still know a thing or two." Ty Lee was ecstatic.

"Where is the Jade Lotus!?" She almost yelled.

"Jade Lotus…" Iroh pondered, "Why do you need to know where that is?"

"Mama might die tonight, unless she has a Jade Lotus."

"Oh, the Jade Lotus is said to give special abilities to those who touch it. Even healing powers to those who are sick." Iroh said, "I think I know where one is…come, follow me."

Ty Lee watched as Iroh began to walk towards a large tree in the middle of the swamp. Around it were several different types of plants. Iroh looked around, talking to himself.

"..Hm…Dragon leaves, no those are Kung sapphires. Or are they Dragon leaves?..." He put his hand to his chin.

Ty Lee sighed and looked at a clump of the plants. Now what did those Jade Lotus's look like again? A glint caught her eye, and she looked down. Four petals of jade, with four stalks in the middle of the plant, each glistening with gold syrup. This had to be it. Ty Lee bent over and gingerly plucked the flower from the earth.

Suddenly, her hands felt numb, and her whole body was tingling. The Jade Lotus was glowing. The sight mesmerized her. A flash of light hit her eyes, and Ty Lee fell over, stunned. Iroh was quickly at her side, helping her up.

It took a second for her sight to come back, and everything seemed blurry. But when she could see, Ty Lee was surprised. Around Iroh was bright orange light. But it was only for a split second. It turned to blue when he began speaking.

"Are you alright?" He asked. She looked at her hands. Pink. What was going on?

"Yeah…" She answered, holding up the plant.

"The Jade Lotus? It makes sense now. It gave you something didn't it?"

"Yes, I think it did…" Ty Lee remarked. Iroh smiled.

A blaring sound filled Ty Lee's ears. It was screams of pain and agony. She collapsed on her knees and snuggled the Jade Lotus close to her chest. The world was spinning, and the last thing Ty Lee saw was Iroh, stunned as ever.

The screams stopped as Ty Lee rolled over in her bed. Her bed? That means she was back. She ran to her mother's room. A doctor with a yellow light stopped her at the entrance.

"We told you already, we can't let you in!" He reminded, frustrated.

"But I have the Jade Lotus." Ty Lee insisted.

"This is no time for games, little girl. Now run along."

"But look!" She revealed the plant. His mouth hit the floor. The doctor ran into the room like a maniac. Ty Lee walked in.

"She has one, I don't know how, but she has one!" The doctor proclaimed ecstatically. All the doctors had a yellow light around them. Ty Lee looked around and gasped. In the corner of the room was her mother. She wasn't moving, and was pale, but that wasn't what startled her. There was black everywhere around her.

Ty Lee ran over to her mother, the pink turning instantly to blue. She thrust the plant into her mother's hands, and waited, tears forming in her eyes. Two doctors ran near her, but stopped. There was nothing they could do.

"Mama…" Ty Lee whispered, "Please, flower, work!"

A light glow emanated from the Jade Lotus, and from one of the gold stalks a bubble came out. It grew and gently consumed Sakura. Ty Lee stepped back, uncertain. Then the bubble seemed to dissolve into her. The light changed to purple. Sakura's eyes fluttered open.

"Mama!" Ty Lee ran into her arms. Sakura was startled.

"Sweetie, what's the matter?" She asked, "Did you have a bad dream?" All the doctors looked around confused. Did she not remember she was practically dead a few minutes ago?

"No, in fact, it was wonderful." And Ty Lee glowed pink.

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**Awwwww...No I'm not going to kill off her mom. Kei still needs to get married, and she would want to see that. Cameo appearances!!!: Herbalist lady from Earth Kingdom with Miyuki, Koh, IROH!!!**

**Oh, here is my beliefs about this chapter. Okay, this is after Ty Lee left from the party, and remember how after the first flashback in Zuko Alone, they show the other one about Iroh and Lu-Ten dying? Well I believe that that happened in a bout a weeks time. And in Seige of the north part one It talked about how Iroh had been to the "Swamp", bcuz Zhao mentioned it. And the last face Koh showed looked a bit like the picture of Lu-Ten. So I am thinking the Koh stole his face, and Iroh went there to try to get it back. The details are a mystery, but I have seen others online who feel the same.**

** Also in this chapter, we see Iroh's awesome plant skills.. "Hm...Dragon leaves, or Kung Sapphires?" **


	13. The Unexpected Funeral

**Sorry about the long wait for updates. School has destroyed my schedule, and then I was grounded for a week. For all you who followed Fiddler on the Roof, I am sorry to say I deleted it. I have to spend more time on this and stories I actually made up. Oh, I hate to break this to all you Zutara peeps, But I am offically Maiko and Kateo (Katara and Teo). Don't kill me or make _another_ angry mob (I took me three weeks to get them off my back the last time, lol). Thank you. R&R!!!**

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Kei waltzed up to Ty Lee after breakfast. She turned and poked his bellybutton, causing him to move back quickly. He had a nice purple glow around him. Ty Lee assumed this meant he was thinking about Miyako, which she was right. She decided to help him think more about her. 

"Miyako is coming back, you know?" Ty Lee said.

"Yeah…she wrote me a letter." Kei seemed to be in a fog, smiling stupidly.

"Are you going to court her?"

"Do we still do it that way?" Kei asked.

"I don't know, Mama read it to me in some story." Ty Lee explained, "Where this handsome man fell in love with the daughter of the…"

"I don't want to know the sappy details." Kei insisted. "I think all we have to do nowadays in get engaged and then we marry."

"Do you get engaged…like engaged for a fight?"

"No, engaged means you will be married soon. It is symbolized by a ring. We each wear one. During the ceremony, we will push our rings together and it shows that we are one." He suggested the motion of his hands coming together.

"It's that easy?" Ty Lee was surprised.

"Well, we have to say some vows and repetitions and such, but other than that, yeah." Kei looked down at his sister, who had sparkles in her eyes, "Did you know that there are special jobs in a wedding."

"Like what?"

"Like…The Flower Maiden."

"Whoa…what's that?"

"The Flower Maiden is a young girl who is usually related to one of the two. She walks down the aisle with ribbons dangling from her hair, and has a basket full of the most beautiful flowers in the world. As the bride appears, she throws them in front of her, showing that the bride is delicate, yet beautiful. It is probably the most important part of the whole ceremony!" She was awestruck, "And since Miyako has no siblings…" He winked.

"I get to be the Flower Maiden!!??" Ty Lee practically screamed.

"Yep you do, little poodlemonkey!"

"Yeah!" She proceeded to perform a triple flip in the air. Kei had to step back so that she wouldn't hit him. They walked down the hall out to the entrance of their home. Tay opened the door and smiled as Ty Lee tossed him a gold piece. He was a nice shade of dark pink, probably because he was happy all the time.

Lee was already next to the carriage, waiting impatiently for his children. He pulled at his beard when they finally arrived. Ty Lee noticed that her father always seemed to be red, or black. It made a bit of sense.

"Come on, children, come on. We can't be late. The Dragon of the West will be here today." He announced. Kei's jaw almost dropped to the bottom of the carriage.

"_**The**_ Dragon of the West?"

"Is there another?"

"I guess not…" Kei sat down, almost in a sweat. Ty Lee looked at him curiously.

"So there are such things as dragons!" She said triumphantly. Lee sighed.

"Ty Lee, the Dragon of the West is the name of a general. The greatest general of all, I think. Wow…" He shook nervously, "I'll meet the Dragon of the West…"

"What's his real name?" Ty Lee asked.

"Oh, he is general Iroh of course. I thought you would know that. Hasn't Azula or Zuko told you?" Then Ty Lee understood.

"But, that means…he lost the battle?" Lee had made his way to the front of the carriage.

"You mean Ba Sing Se? Yeah. After Lu-Ten died…he couldn't take it…"

"But Kei, Lu-Ten isn't dead. Koh has him in a cave…" Ty Lee attempted to explain, but Kei rolled his eyes.

"Where, in what cave?" He asked, almost sarcastically.

"The one in the swamp, of course. Iroh was there and he helped me find the Jade Lotus." That was the only thing Kei couldn't explain. How did his sister get the Jade Lotus? He wanted to believe her, but the rest of her story was so…odd.

"Right, I forgot." Kei played along, "After he lost Lu-Ten in the cave, he couldn't take it, and retreated back here…but his return isn't why we are going to the palace."

"Then why are we?" Ty Lee was full of questions today. Kei looked out the window and sighed. The reason why they were going didn't make much sense to him either. It was so…unexpected. But it had to happen eventually. But why the sudden change of direct heirs? And what about Fire Lady Ursa…?

"Uh…Fire Lord Azulon died last night. And…now Ozai is Fire Lord…" Kei informed.

"But isn't Ozai the younger brother?" Ty Lee asked.

"Yeah, but…I don't understand it all myself. Iroh should be Fire Lord…but…I don't know…" Kei directed his attention back to the window, which told Ty Lee to stop asking him questions.

Ty Lee felt confused. She would meet the man who helped her save Mama again, but for a funeral/coronation. This wasn't what she expected at all.

The trip was about an hour long, and Ty Lee was asleep for most of it, trying to get back to the swamp. But unfortunately all she could dream of was some flying creature that looked similar to a poodlemonkey. The rest of the time she pondered over her new 'gift'. She was pretty certain it showed emotions, but it could also show health. The problem was sometimes the colors were so bright it was hard to see the actual person.

Finally, they arrived at the Fire Lord's palace, way larger than Azula's old home. They were quickly inside the estate, where Ty Lee saw Azula, who was a dark shade of red.

"Hey, did you hear the good news? Daddy is the Fire Lord." She sneered in victory.

"What about Iroh, shouldn't he…" Ty Lee protested. Azula slapped Ty Lee in the mouth.

"Don't you mention that traitor's name. My Daddy is a much better Fire Lord than that old fool would ever be. He couldn't even get Ba Sing Se." She whispered sharply. Ty Lee put a hand to her mouth, and looked at it. She was bleeding. It was because of Azula's sharp nails. Kei saw the physical exchange, and walked over to them.

"What did you do Azula?" He asked, very angry. Ty Lee saw that Azula turned from red, to purple. What did this mean, that she liked Kei?

"Oh, um…Kei, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…I mean, uh…"She ducked behind Ty Lee and ran down a hall. Kei looked confused, and then took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the fresh blood from her lips.

"You know she can't help it. It is her nature. Try to show her love, and she might change." Kei explained, returning the handkerchief. He wiggled his patch a bit, then walked into a room ahead. Ty Lee decided that she better find out where Azula went, since there was nothing better to do.

She walked down the same hall Azula had dashed, and listened to see if she could find her. It took awhile before she heard some muffles through a door. She opened it and stared. It was Zuko, head in his arms, crying.

"Zuko…?" She asked. He looked up, startled. "What happened?"

"Go away, Ty Lee." He said. His color was a light blue. "You wouldn't understand.."

"How do you know?" She responded. He turned his head, and sighed.

"My mom is gone, and no one cares. Not even Azula." Ty Lee was shocked.

"Is she…?" She decided not to use the word, but just imply it.

"No, she isn't. I'm sure of it. She can't be." He was slowly turning from blue to red. She had to be careful of what she said. She didn't want to hurt him. Ty Lee slowly walked up to him and put a hand on his back.

Quickly, he blasted a fireball right in front of her face. The heat made her eyes water.

"Leave!!!" He screamed, causing Ty Lee to run out of the room, not even thinking of looking back. She nervously walked back into the room where she had entered. A few minutes passed, and Zuko ran by her, now in white clothes. He was still blue, though. Zuko had stumbled, but made his way to a door on the left. He opened and closed it with a slam.

She followed, but when she tried to open the door it wouldn't budge. She put her ear to the door, and heard a sage starting the funeral. She was going to miss it all. Why couldn't the door move? She tried again, harder this time. Still, no movement.

She sighed, and looked at the door that Kei had gone in moments earlier. Perhaps it leads somewhere important. Ty Lee bolted towards it and tried the knob. It turned and she pushed it open.

The sight stunned her. The man was sitting at a table drinking tea. He looked and stared blankly, a blue light surrounding him. Then he realized something.

"No…how…?" Iroh asked. Ty Lee walked forward. "You are the girl from…"

"Iroh?" Ty Lee asked. He nodded. "Thanks…Mama was healed because of the Jade Lotus."

"You mean…it really worked…?" He seemed shocked.

"Yeah. Without you showing me where the garden was, I would've never found it." Then she noticed something, "Why aren't you at the funeral?" He looked down sadly.

"I came back in defeat. Then I learned my father died and gave the birthright to…my brother. I…it wouldn't be right. I am not welcomed there. Why aren't you there?" He explained.

"The door got stuck and I can't get out there." She admitted. He smiled.

"At least I have company." He sipped the tea. "You do realize that you are staying here until tomorrow, for the coronation party?"

"No, how do you know that?"

"Zuko told me about you." He said.

"But…not Azula?" Ty Lee seemed upset.

"She won't talk to me, and Zuko tells me everything." He looked at the young girl and knew that this was Azula's friend. "But I am sure she is excited too."

"Zuko is excited?" She asked.

"Uh…I don't think I was supposed to say that." Iroh blushed and laughed out loud. "Zuko doesn't like me talking about his lady-friends in public."

Lady-friends? Ty Lee gave the man a funny look, and sighed. She would have to find out tomorrow.

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**I never planned to add this part in. The funeral I mean. It was just going to be another war council, but I decided to change it. Haha, Lady-friends :) Not That I am Zulee though (That came up in a review). I am 95 Ty Lokka, 5 Sokki. No Zulee. There is Maiko and Kateo, but I already told you about that. Next chappie will have more Mongoose Dragons (Y'know, from the Zoo chapter?).**


	14. The Mongoose Dragons

**OMG! I am sooooo sorry for the long wait. School has been tough on me, and when I had free time I was working on a manga contest (Which I got 2nd in). And of course, I have been watching Avatar! How do you guys like it so far? My fave episode so far is the Headband, but I am sure The Beach will be my favorite (Since Ty Lee will finally be in an episode). The Awaking (IMHO) was a bit boring, too many flashbacks. But I am a bit scared that in The Beach they will reveal Ty Lee's past, and this story will be kind of pointless then. I will still write it, but it would feel different. HEre is the next chappie. Many things happen in this chapter, and Aya, I gave you a place in this story, as a Mongoose Dragon! R&R**

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Ty Lee had slept that night in a guest room with Kei. The sheets were made of the finest silk the world could offer, and for once, she felt like she was a daughter of a nobleman and not some girl that happened to be friends with the fire princess. Why was it that her father was a nobleman, but he didn't live in the vicinity around the palace, as most did?

Wait, hadn't Mama explained this to her already?

"_I am very sick, Ty Lee, so sick, that I can only live in areas that have the purest air. That is hard to find in the Fire Nation, but they have found it. Papa quit his job in the navy when he learned of my diagnosis. So now we live here, the only place where I can live and be healthy. Unfortunately, I am afraid we will have to move soon, for the air is being polluted more by the months." _

That was right. That was why it felt different.

Kei had tossed and turned several times in the night. She didn't blame him, she knew what dreams where like. It had woken her up momentarily, but she quickly fell back into her own little world. She was searching desperately for the swamp. Not for the immediate pleasure and wonder that occurred once you were in it, but just out of curiosity. So many different creatures and landscapes could be there. It made her imagination race.

A loud clanging noise woke her the next morning. Azula was bashing a pot with a sleepy Mai next to her. Ty Lee hadn't seen Mai since her new ability came to her. The older girl was a dark grey, which made Ty Lee sad. This was Azula's doing, no doubt. But there was a small line of orange around the edges maybe there was some hope. Zuko? Maybe, but maybe not after that stunt they pulled on her the second day of Azula's party.

"Wake up, you two late-risers! Breakfast is almost done!" Azula ordered. Kei bolted up from under the covers and glanced around the room. His shirt was off, and Azula blushed intensely. "Uh...I'm sorry, did….I come at a bad time?" There was a hint of sincerity in her voice. If Ty Lee had woken up in the same condition…there would probably be laughter and more orders instead of this. Maybe Kei could help her change her ways.

Kei grabbed a tunic from the side dresser and flung it on. He also took hold of his patch, which he carefully tied around his head over his eye.

"No, it is fine. I wasn't prepared." He seemed completely unaware of Azula's staring and red face. Or was he avoiding them? Ty Lee wasn't sure.

"Oh, well, you still you should get ready quickly. Breakfast today is steamed rice. I'll…be going!" Azula ran off quickly into the hall, dropping the pot. It fell with a crash that probably woke up all who were still asleep. Mai remained in the doorway.

"She's lying you know." She said softly.

"I thought so. Azula always lies." Ty Lee replied.

"I think we are the first people up, actually. But that is because Azula said we have to be up early, for a surprise." A surprise? Ty Lee wasn't sure what she should make of it. Kei looked up.

"Does that mean I can go back to sleep?" He asked. Mai nodded, and he sighed. "I thought I was going to die if I stayed up one more minute." He lied back down on the bed and immeadiatley fell asleep.

Ty Lee put on her shoes and walked outside of the room. Mai was looking a little more orange. Yes, the grey was definitely because of Azula. It was quiet for the first half of the walk. Ty Lee did not know where the dining hall was in the palace, but Mai obviously knew. It was time for her to make a conversation.

"So, what do you think about the recent coronation? Shouldn't of Iroh…" Mai quickly placed her hand over Ty Lee's mouth.

"We aren't allowed to talk about Iroh that way in the palace. I heard if you do, the punishment could be death." She whispered through clenched teeth. Ty Lee was shocked. Ozai clearly wanted no hint of rebellion or second-guessing. But this was crossing the line.

It took another fifteen minutes to get to the dining hall. The smell was now directing the two towards it. It smelled like sweet rolls. Ty Lee almost licked her lips, but stopped. Not here, not when she has to be 'mature'. She barely knew the meaning of the word, but her father had stressed the subject several times.

"Here we are." Mai turned, and Ty Lee saw the entrance to a large room. She gingerly stepped in. A small table. A few chairs. This wasn't the official dinning hall. Perhaps a special one just for the kids? Anything could happen in the palace.

Mai sat down at the chair nearest the end and Ty Lee took the next one. A butler placed a plate with two sweet rolls and a bowl of steamed rice in front of her. Ty Lee immeadiatley shoved a roll in her mouth, letting the buttery honey soak in her mouth. Mai stared, and then smiled. They laughed.

Azula walked in promptly and sat at the end of the table. She had a grin on her face.

"Well girls, I'll have you know we are going to learn to ride mongoose dragons today." She announced.

"But they were just babies a few weeks ago. How did they grow so quickly?"' Ty Lee asked.

"Reptiles grow quickly, because they need to mature faster to live longer." Mai stated quietly. There was that word again. Even animals had to be 'mature'. They finished eating in silence, staring at each other every now and then.

When Mai finally ate her last grain of rice, Azula showed the way outside into the newly made corral. Ty Lee's face brightened when she saw the Mongoose Dragons. They seemed so majestic with their green scales shining in the sun.

"Ty Lee, you get the short one because you are the smallest." Azula said pointing to the small dragon. Mai already knew she got the middle one, and began to walk to the fence separating them from their steeds.

"Can we name them?!" Ty Lee blurted out enthusiastically. Azula smirked, and looked at the Mongoose Dragons.

"I guess if you want to…" She replied. Mai scratched her chin a bit, and looked at her dragon.

"Mine will be named…Ayu…" She stated after much thought. Azula put her hand to her mouth and stifled a laugh.

"Trout!? Who would name their dragon 'Trout'!?" She exclaimed.

"Okay then…" Mai turned a shade red, " How about 'Aya'?"

"That is a nice name, kind of familiar, but cool!" Ty Lee said, trying to cheer her up. Now it was her turn to make a name. "Gabile. Mine will be named Gabile." Azula laughed so hard she snorted.

"That doesn't even mean anything!" She cried out, hysterical now.

"That doesn't matter. It is my dragon, and I say it is a perfect name for him." Ty Lee retorted.

"Whatever. My dragon will be named…Zaki after the great firebending teacher who taught…Iroh." She stammered a bit. Mai seemed puzzled.

"Iroh wasn't taught by one named…" She tried to explain.

"That's not the point!" Azula interrupted. "Now, we must get on our Mongoose Dragons." She attempted to jump the fence with no avail, falling on her bottom. "Mai, help me across the fence!"

"Just do it like this!" Ty Lee jumped to the top of the wooden pickets and used the push from her hands to propel her to the inside of the corral. "It is easy." Mai and Azula stared in astonishment. But Azula quickly recovered.

"I'm sorry, Ty Lee. Not all of us can be freakishly abnormal like you. Now Mai, help push me up!" She pointed exaggeratedly to the fence.

Mai ran up and stood next to the fence while Azula jumped on her shoulders. Mai winced.

"You…have gotten heavier since…the last time we did this…" She gasped. Azula just hit her on the top of her head.

"Then hurry up, stop jiggling so much." She was getting impatient. Mai began to lift the princess up so that she could reach the top. Azula did, and jumped off it. Mai fell over on her leg.

"Ow…" She complained, holding the injured limb. Ty Lee jumped back over.

"You okay, Mai?" She asked. Mai shook her head.

"It hurts a lot…" She cried out in pain. Ty Lee carefully brought her over the fence. Azula was waiting.

"Come on, it's not that bad. Now let's get on these dragons so we can learn to ride them." Azula approached her dragon and slowly jumped on its back. It seemed shocked and began to run around the corral. Then she kicked her legs and the dragon stopped. "Good Zaki." She said, petting its neck. "Now you guys try."

Mai looked at Ty Lee with fear in her eyes. Her leg must have really hurt.

"I'll go first." Ty Lee said, jumping on Gabile. The dragon didn't seem to notice a human was on its back, and continued lying there, waiting for something to happen. Mai trudged over to Aya and touched its scaly skin. The dragon didn't respond, and slowly she brought herself up to the back of it.

"Good, girls. Now, let's start riding. Ha!" She yelled the command that made the dragon's 'ears' shoot up. Immeadiatley, it started to circle around the perimeter of the corral. "Just say 'Ha' and they will walk around." Mai stared at the reigns in front of her. The saddle and equipment was foreign to Ty Lee as well. But Azula didn't notice their bewilderment.

"Ha!" Ty Lee cried as the dragon ran full speed ahead. She could barely hold on to the reigns, and she felt that at any moment she would go flying off. "How do you stop this thing!?"

"Say 'Ho!'" Azula replied. Ty Lee wondered who thought up all of these 'creative' names.

"Ho!" She almost screamed as the dragon practically made contact with the side of the fence.

"Good try for our first time practicing. Mai, your turn." Mai was obviously scared, but did what she was told.

"Ha!" Though it came out to be more like a hoarse whisper than an order, the dragon sure heard it. It went off in the same familiar fashion that Gabile did. Except Mai was too shocked to say the next command. She was being flopped around like a sack of potatoes, clinging on for dear life.

"Say 'Ho'!" Ty Lee cried. Fortunately, Aya heard the command and stopped without Mai saying it. Unfortunately, Mai lost grip and was flung out of the corral.

"Mai!" A voice screamed. Over a hill came Zuko and Kei, now running after seeing the girl fly over. Mai fell with a sickening thud on her injured leg, which now bent backwards with a snap. She seemed to be in state of shock, as she didn't respond to anything.

Ty Lee jumped over next to her brother, who had kneeled down and looked at Mai's leg. Zuko was behind Kei, and looked like he was about to throw up. Azula made her way over the fence.

"Oh, Kei! I am so glad you came. Just in time, too. Poor Mai, we should take her to the infirmary." Azula said. Ty Lee stared at the princess. 'Poor Mai'!? What was up with her? Kei studied the leg longer, and then slowly twisted it back into its normal position. Mai screamed.

"Okay, now let me try this…calm down. Miyako taught me how to do this…" He tore off a sleeve of his tunic and wrapped it around the leg. It was bleeding profusely. "Just apply the right amount of pressure…." He pushed a little bit, and Mai winced. But the bleeding stopped. "And there. Let's get you to the infirmary."

Kei picked Mai up and held her in his arms. Azula grew a bit red. Jealous, perhaps? Ty Lee walked with them towards the palace where the infirmary was.

"So, Kei, why did you come over her anyways?" Ty Lee asked.

"Zuko and I were supposed to tell you to get ready for the coronation party." Kei responded. Mai lay in his arms, body limp. She was crying softly.

"Yeah, and boy, did we not expect this." Zuko remarked. "She just went, _whoosh._" He imitated the motion with his hands. "And I thought for sure she was going to land on her head. She was sure lucky."

Azula seemed antsy, like she wanted to say something. Finally, she did.

"Kei, who is Miyako?" She asked. Kei blushed a bit.

"Oh, she is my friend. My very good friend…" He replied.

"Oh…" Azula turned blue. If only she knew who Miyako really was. But that might break her heart.

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**There are sooo many Azukei moments in this chapter (Okay, maybe just 2, but that is a lot). I don't support it, even though I made the shipping up. It is cute, but Kei is partially the reason why Azula is so cold and mean. I have been a bit hard on Mai lately. she broke her leg in this chapter, what else can I do to her...lol just kidding. I really like Mai's character in my story. And when they go to school, you will learn much morea bout her. **


	15. Flashbacks and Heartbreaks

**Yay, I did this all last night, yay me!!! This is a big chapter chocked up with Flashbacks, so bear with me. It is also pretty emotional, I cried. And some characters come back. Did you see Sokka's Master? I thought it was funny when he said "Try Lee, there is a lot of people with that name", and I happened to make Ty Lee's father 'Lee'. And Iroh? When he took his shirt off, I started singing 'Macho, macho man!". Several different shipping wars in this chappie; Azukei, Miyakei, Maiko, and Ty Luko. Which two shippings will come out victorious? Well, I think it was obvious, but still...lol. BTW, I have said this b4 but I am not a Ty Luko shipper. I think it is sick and wrong. But, if Zuko _was _the only guy around except your brother, I would have a slight crush on him too...R&R**

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Ty Lee and Azula had to leave from the infirmary early to get ready for the party. Kei insisted that Mai would be fine, but Zuko didn't seem so sure. He held her hand while the nurse slowly rubbed the salve on the broken leg. Mai was slipping in and out of consciousness constantly. She hadn't been in this much pain before. But Ty Lee had.

"_You are worthless! It is a disgrace to know that I help bore you! Why do you embarrass yourself more by flipping around like a fool!?"_

_Lee's hand came across Ty Lee's face. Then it took her arm and bent it back as far as it could go until he heard the sickening snap. _

_"Papa! Stop it, Papa, it hurts!" Ty Lee was crying and screaming at the same time. But her father paid no heed. He continued to advance to the second arm. _

_"Papa!"_

Ty Lee shook her head, shocked at how vivid the flashback was. She was four at the time, and she had really thought that her father had loved her. That he had cared for her. But it was a lie she had made up from what Kei had told her. Kei saw the father he really was.

_"Father used to smile…before you were born." _ That was her brother's explanation. Then she had realized it all. He had broken both of her arms that day, and he would have done more if Kei hadn't walked in the room.

_"Father, stop it! What are you doing!?" He ran forward and threw himself between the young girl and Lee. "She doesn't deserve this!"_

_"You really should join the Navy, Kei. Then I would have nothing stopping me from doing what I must do!" He seemed to be insane._

_"Zhao was here, wasn't he?" Kei asked._

Zhao…the evil-man. He could convince her father to do anything. She hated him. Then maybe her father would truly love her.

A young servant took Ty Lee to another room where a large wardrobe stood in the middle of a wall. It took her awhile to shake off the vision, but it was hard. It was the story of her life. How many broken bones and shattered dreams?

The wardrobe opened and Ty Lee gasped. Everything pink that you could imagine.

"Wow…Who's is this?" She asked the servant.

"This used to be mistress Mai's." She replied calmly. Ty Lee stared back.

"What? Mai's?" She put a hand to her mouth. But that wouldn't stop her from picking the best outfit. There was a nice kimono with platform shoes that caught her eye. "This one please." She pointed at it.

The servant took it down from the wall and pushed Ty Lee over to a changing room. Quickly she changed into the dress and was directed to a courtyard, where she met back up with Azula.

"Mai will be here shortly. She needed to get a splint." She stated. "But Kei is already here…" She had desire in her eyes and in her color. She had love, why couldn't Ty Lee? Besides, there weren't any boys around except for…

_"…and Ty Lee is with Zu-Zu." _

_"Ty Lee, look at this."_

_"I thought you would like it." _

Zuko? She did enjoy their time at the zoo, but did she like him? No, she couldn't betray Mai like that. But then Iroh had said…

_"Zuko doesn't like me talking about his lady-friends in public."_

She would have to find out what Zuko's true feelings were. She would find out tonight.

"…Ty Lee, hey, look at me! Snap out of it!" Azula apparently was trying to get her attention.

"Sorry, Azula."

"Hey, here comes Miss Personality right now." Azula pointed over towards Mai, who was limping.

"Hi guys…" She greeted. Zuko was close behind her. "Look what I have to wear." She lifted up the bottom of her dress to reveal to slabs of wood pressed up against her leg.

"That stinks." Ty Lee remarked. "Won't you get splinters?" Mai shook her head.

"Come on guys, let's go to the party." Azula began running towards the courtyard, where Ty Lee noticed a great gathering of people. Of course, a coronation was a big event.

Everyone else followed at a slightly slower pace for Mai's sake.

"Have you ever been to a party like this, Ty Lee?" Zuko asked. Ty Lee blushed a little. Was she pretending, trying to create love for herself, or was it real?

"No." She replied calmly. She had to let it out. "Zuko, I have a question."

"Yes?"

"What does your uncle mean by 'Lady-friends'?" This made Zuko blush as well.

"Mai, can you go ahead of us. I need to speak to Ty Lee privately." Mai complied, and Zuko slowed down. "I think I know what you are talking about." He whispered. "You talked to him, didn't you?" Ty Lee nodded. "Can you keep a secret?"

Ty Lee's heart raced. He was going to say it. She had thought she was imagining feelings, but now they felt so real. The world stopped.

"Yeah, I can." She half screamed. She couldn't wait for him to declare it.

"Okay, well…if you haven't noticed…" He turned his head, making sure no one was within earshot. "I have a bit of a crush…" She held her breath, ready to take in the moment, "…on Mai."

Her blood ran cold. Of course, she had made up the feelings. She so desperately wanted to be loved, she almost pinned it on Zuko to give it to her. Besides, Zuko and Mai were cute together.

"Yeah, I noticed. That was what Iroh was talking about. Just wanted to make sure." She lied. Then she ran ahead towards the party, trying to hide her oncoming tears.

About every noble family in the entire Fire Nation had come to the palace to celebrate the new Fire Lord. There were so many guests, Ty Lee's head hurt from looking at them. The colors emanating from their bodies mixed together like blob. People were dancing, eating, or just talking for the pure enjoyment of it. A giant table full of food lay ahead of Ty Lee, and she put her hand to her stomach. She had skipped lunch to stay with Mai in the infirmary. Now she could make up for it.

She grabbed two rice cakes and shoved one in her mouth, and then the other. The sweet sticky sap that connected the grains of rice melted in her mouth like candy. This was a special ingredient that only the Fire Nation put in.

"I see your eating habits haven't changed a bit." Ty Lee turned around and found herself face-to-face with someone she never wanted to see again. Zhao smiled.

"W-what are you doing here!?" She asked, scared.

"Your father invited me, of course." He said this as if it was obvious, "He is the best friend a man can have. But you, on the other hand…" Azula ran up and hit Ty Lee on the head. It happened so quickly that she didn't fully comprehend it.

"Zhao, stop picking on her. Pick on someone more useful, like Zuko." Ty Lee glared at Azula. Zhao's chest deflated, and he walked away, defeated.

"Thanks a lot." Ty Lee replied sarcastically.

"Don't mention it." Azula answered, "Kei's looking for you, says he has a surprise."

"Oh, ok." Ty Lee sighed. This surprise better be nicer than Azula's.

"Just go inside to the meeting room." She pointed over to a building. "Now hurry up." Azula almost pushed her to the room.

Ty Lee entered and saw Kei, with his back towards her. There was someone else in the room, for the pink light coming from them was plainly showing. Her brother turned around, revealing the surprise.

"Miyako!" Ty Lee exclaimed, running over to hug her friend.

"Hi, little poodlemonkey!" She rubbed her head.

"Ty Lee, we have some important news to tell you…" Kei began, only to be interrupted by Miyako.

"I heard about your Mom. It's amazing how you found the Jade Lotus." She said.

"Did you finish your school, Miyako?" Ty Lee asked. Miyako glanced at Kei, and smiled.

"You could say it that way."

"Ty Lee, Miyako and I are engaged now. She came to the party to tell me that she finished school, and then I proposed." Ty Lee just stared blankly at the two of them.

"It means we are getting married in a month." Miyako explained. That made Ty Lee's eyes brighten.

"No way!" She cried. Quickly she jumped around the room, flipping and doing back hand springs. "It's finally happening!"

"Yes it is…" Kei looked bank at his fiancée. Slowly they drew close to each other, faces illuminated by the candlelight. Their lips met, and Ty Lee stopped jumping. Her face twisted in disgust.

"Ewww! Stop eating each other! Kissing is only for married people!" They both burst out laughing.

"Well, then consider us newly-weds." Miyako said. They embraced, and brought their lips together for a long, drawn out kiss.

Ty Lee felt a small breeze hit her shoulder. She turned around and saw a figure standing in the now open door. She gasped.

Her eyes were filling with tears, as her color changed from a light red to blue. Azula held the door up, and stared at Miyako and Kei. Kei saw her, and quickly dropped back from the kiss.

"Azula…" But she was past talking. The Fire Princess ran from the door. Miyako seemed confused. "Ty Lee, will you…?" But she understood what he wanted her to do. She bolted after her friend.

Azula had raced into a nearby entrance to the palace, with Ty Lee right behind her. She finally reached her room, and dived into the doorway. When Ty Lee caught up with her, she had her head in a pillow, sobbing.

"Of course…" She cried through tears, "…Zuko gets Mai, but what do I get!?" Her body was racking from her crying. "This proves it. Never, ever trust anyone. Especially the ones you love." She turned around and stared at Ty Lee. "That was Miyako, wasn't it?" She couldn't lie.

"Yes." Azula returned her face to her pillow, which muffled the scream.

"Never again!!! Never again will I love anyone!"

Ty Lee rubbed a tear from her eye, knowing that her friend was scarred for life.

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**:( I feel bad for Azula...(Slight pause) Well, sympathy is over, lol jk. Really, though, this is part of the reason why she is so cold. Of course, Miyakei and Maiko prevailed in the end. Ty Luko was just a chapter, and its okay Ty Lee, I have a real 'School time Shipping' for** **you. And since I am nice, and I have had the school-time chapters lcoked in my mind, since I have a few more chapters to write b4 hand, I shall reveal her lovers name. TOMO!!!! There, I said it. Never shall I say it again. So this is your oppertunity. Stare at it, memorize it, because you ain't seeing it again until he shows up in a chapter. Oh, okay, one more spoiler. I am sad to report that I am skipping right until the day b4 the wedding, cuz I can't find anything to write about b4 that, and after the wedding, I am skipping about 1 and a 1/2 years, but it is for the best, I promise!**


	16. The Flower Maiden

**OMG!!! I am soooo sorry for not updating in forever!!! School and all have been weighing down on me. And I just got the first Avatar game, and I am hooked. Now if I could get the second one too...anyways! FYI, loyal readers, aka you, I know you have seen the episode "The Beach". So far it has been my fave in FIRE, because it has Ty Lee in it. But, you may have noticed htat one comment about Ty Lee having 6 sisters who look just like her...PLEASE FORGOT SHE EVER SAID THAT UNTIL I FINISH MY FANFICTION!!! Then you will realize this was all a prediction, and a good one at the time. And still a good one.This chappie is kind of a filler, but the next one is the wedding one, and will be longer. R&R!**

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The day before the wedding Sakura was all aglow. Four weeks had passed since Kei had announced his engagement, and his frail mother has felt like she was the Fire Lady the whole time. Ty Lee liked seeing her that enthusiastic despite being in her condition. But, the young girl's mind kept wandering back to her friend, Azula. Would she even talk to Ty Lee now?

But that wasn't the problem at the moment. Now Ty Lee had to make sure she could stay still and stop wriggling. Some outfitters had come to take her sizes and make a dress since she was The Flower Maiden. Their colors seemed gray, and Ty Lee had the feeling that they were under-paid. Their colors mixed together, like they usually do, and made Ty Lee dizzy. If she could only find a way to control her new power, maybe turn it off and on or something.

Kei walked in the room where she was being fitted. Big puffs of material were sticking out of everywhere, and he laughed at loud once he saw her.

"Ty Lee…wow…that is so…not looking like a dress…." He pushed his hand over his mouth.

"Ha, very funny. We are just starting off, choosing what color I should wear. Then we will actually make it." Ty Lee retorted, although she thought she looked quite funny too.

"Which color are you going to choose?" He asked.

"What do you think?" She gave him a 'duh' look.

"Pink." He admitted.

"Of course! Why wouldn't it be pink!?" Ty Lee was getting frustrated for no apparent reason. She just wanted to scream, which was unusual for her. The swamp was on her mind. And the power the flower gave her. Why couldn't she know more about both topics? Perhaps she could ask Iroh next time she came over.

"Okay, then. I hope it gets finished soon!" He called as he walked out of the room.

Unfortunately, it was two hours later when the outfit was complete, and Ty Lee had to stay in the same position the whole time. Her nose kept itching and her tights, which Sakura had forced her to wear, was running up her leg. She never understood why people in the Fire Nation wore tights. It was never cold, but it seemed like an offense to show your legs. Ty Lee proudly revealed them, partially because they let her limbs breath and made her feel relaxed.

Many things made Ty Lee feel relaxed. Poodlemonkeys. Flowers. Meditation. The Swamp. The latest addition to the list was Jasmine Tea, which Iroh had introduced to her when they talked during the funeral.

_"Have you ever tried Jasmine Tea?" The old man asked._

_"No, is it yummy?" _

_"Extremely yummy."_

_"Yummy in your tummy, like there is a party in it?" _

_"Tremendously yummy in your tummy, especially when your tummy is as big as mine." Iroh patted his stomach with pride. Then he carefully poured the tea into a small cup. Ty Lee slowly picked the porcelain cup and raised it to her lips. The warm fluid ran through her throat. The taste was sensational, and the smell cleansed her mind. It felt like she was dreaming._

_"Wow, Iroh! That was super-duper!" She cried, taking another sip. _

_"I thought you would like it. Jasmine Tea purifies the soul and quiets the mind. A very essential part of life." _

_"You are the wisest man on earth, aren't you?" Iroh laughed._

_"No, I wouldn't say that. There is still so much to learn about life, so much unknown to us. It is great to know life still has his mysteries though."_

_"Thank you, for everything, Iroh." _

Ty Lee had drifted off to sleep before the outfitters were finished. They had to wake her up.

"…huh? What happened?" She asked.

"We are done, my lady." One of them informed. Ty Lee looked over into the mirror and saw her reflection. A pale pink dress with big bows and ribbons streaming down from the sides.

"I love it! Thank you!" She cried in joy. She jumped off the stool she was on over to her small purse on the dresser. She pulled out twenty gold pieces and distributed them between the four dressers. "Here, for your trouble." Ty Lee was quite pleased with her response. Sakura would say it was very 'mature'. Lee wouldn't have noticed.

"But, my lady, we can't accept…" Another dresser came forward and said.

"I'm not taking it back, if that's what you think." The dressers smiled. Ty Lee did as well. She had done her good deed for the day. Now, it was off to make the final preparations for the wedding.

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**The Iroh section was originally going to be in the funeral chappie, but I decided to put it on this one. Oh well:) I just got two more shots and a blood test last week, and now my arms are sore. It stinks. Halloween is tommorow, yet I still haven't got my costume ready. Waterbender42 is going to be a Kyoshi Warrior, but I remain undescive. I'll probably end up being Mary Poppins or Cinderella or something we find in our costume drawyer. Well, I'll tell you about how Halloween went next time. SEE YA!!!**


	17. The Wedding

**OOOKAY! I bet you are already forming an angry mob to kill me. I am soo sorry! School has been killer, and over christmas break I got Sonic Rush Adventure and Drawn to life, which my life has curently revovled aroud lately. Technically, I have beaten both games, but there is so much extra stuff to do. This is the wedding chappie, as the title says. You might notice the writing style changes a bit around the middle, because the first part was written a few motnhs ago, and teh other written tonight. Please enjoy, R&R, and do not kill me! Oh, and if any of you read this early and saw the chapter one above the author's note..sorry! Accident on my part! PLEASE REVIEW!!! The only people who have on this chappie are my friends, and they now I'd kill them if they didn't...**

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"Oh my, Miyako!" Ty Lee exclaimed. The bride-to-be was simply stunning in the red kimono accompanied by the white linen puffs. The veil surrounding her visage seemed to mask her face, but Ty Lee was told that that was all part of the ceremony, "You look beautiful!" 

"Are you sure, poodlemonkey? I am not sure anyone can see me through all of this fabric…" She tossed the puffs out of her face and tried to push them down to her side. Her hair was in the two buns, as usual, but the pins in them were especially decorated today. Of course, why wouldn't they be? It was her wedding.

"Absolutely-positutley! Kei is going to be so happy when he sees you." Ty Lee looked out the window of the small dressing room and saw her brother. His color and face was green.

"Kei…" Miyako directed her gaze down to the floor. Her color turned to a blue. "Oh, Ty Lee, I don't know if I can do this…" Ty Lee stared at her, mouth agape.

"What do you mean you can't do this?" She almost cried out. "You have been preparing to do this for…a long time!"

"I know, but it is very stressful. And the look on her face…" Miyako bent herself over and put her hands on her head. Ty Lee knew she was talking about Azula.

"It's okay. I know Azula, and she…she will get over it…" Ty Lee wished what she said was true.

"Really?" Miyako had a spark of hope in her eyes.

"Really." Ty Lee lied. A short servant walked into the room and stopped when he saw the two girls.

"Mistress Miyako, it is time for you to go out." He informed. Now Miyako's face was green.

"Come on, you can do it." Ty Lee gave her a little push. Miyako stood up, and began to walk out the door.

"Wait, Ty Lee!" She swerved back around and grabbed a basket. "You need your flowers." Ty Lee smiled as she took the basket.

The halls and corridors seemed uneasily dark as they hurried their way out to the courtyard where the ceremony was being held. Miyako was gripping on to Ty Lee's hand, which was now full of sweat. This was the real deal.

There was one door that separated them from the outside, and they stopped in front of it.

"Are you ready?" Ty Lee asked.

"I feel like I am facing my death…" Miyako covered her mouth, seemingly about to throw up.

"That's not the right answer! Are you ready!!!??" Before she could respond, Ty Lee threw open the large door. The light streamed in, and they shielded their eyes.

Ty Lee saw in front of her several dozen rows of people, mostly friends and family. But there were also some high-ranking lords and complete strangers mixed in. All of their colors seemed either pink or almost pink. They were definitely excited.

When the door opened, everything got quiet. A few hushed whispers lingered from past conversations. Ty Lee gripped her basket. All eyes were on the bride and the flower maiden.

A small red carpet with the Fire Nation insignia on it trailed down to them, leading up to Kei and the priest. Miyako was pale, and stared at the carpet for a few moments. Then the flutes started. It was a high pitched happy tune that made the occasion more festive. A Sungi horn soon followed, along with several other instruments. The wedding ceremony had officially begun.

Slowly, Miyako took her first step onto the carpet. Ty Lee had to scurry up in front of her, taking a handful of flowers and carefully throwing them out in front of the bride. Fire lilies were in abundance, but there were some other beautiful flowers too. They made a perfect path for Miyako to walk on.

Ty Lee looked at the people seated as she passed them. She could see Sifu Abu and Tay at the back. There were a few other people she recognized scattered around in the middle from many dinner parties, but the rest were unknown to her. That is, until she got to the front of the crowd. Two rows behind the front were Zuko and Mai. They waved as the two passed, but a pang of guilt struck Ty Lee's stomach. Azula wasn't there.

She hadn't fully expected Azula to be there in the first place, but it still hurt her none the less.

Kei looked at his bride-to-be as she approached slowly, his sister in front of her. Miyako stared back, forcing a smile. Ty Lee was also faking her grin, as her mind was on Azula. She gently plucked every blossom and threw them on the carpet. But, then the carpet ended, and both the flower maiden and the bride stood face-to-face with the bridegroom and the priest. The ceremony had officially begun.

Ty Lee moved over to her respected place next to the bride as the priest opened the ancient scroll.

"Friends and family of these two lovers, we are gathered here on a special occasion in which we unite two people with the oath. The true love they experience today will endure until eternity, never leaving their sides. The importance…" The priest rambled on. Ty Lee turned and saw her mother's gleaming face in the front row next to her almost as excited as father's. They had greatly anticipated this day, and now it was happening. If only the 'lovers' would be so enthusiastic. Kei shuffled his new shoes back and forth on his feet, not daring to look Miyako in the eyes. Miyako was biting her lip, waiting for the final words.

Ty Lee looked at the priest and saw he was not nearly halfway through the scroll. Were weddings really this boring? Well, she didn't know. She had never been to one. She had assumed, however, that it would be fast and romantic. What a contrast that was to the scene before her. Someone talking in the audience caught her attention.

It was her father, leaning in towards the row behind him. He was discussing rapidly with someone, turning his head occasionally in the wedding's direction. Behind him was the someone, and Ty Lee held her breath. Zhao. He smiled cynically as the wedding continued. The color around him was dark red, menacingly red. Something told her Zhao wasn't here for the wedding, but she would have to find out later, for her attention was redirected to the priest.

"..now Kei, would you place out your hand? Good, you do the same Miyako. Gently touch the tips of both rings together. Now, release the veil around her face." Kei did so, and Miyako glowed with happiness. "You are now, Lord, and Lady." The audience cheered like raving hogmonkeys, and Kei drew ever closer to his bride, lips gently touching.

Ty Lee didn't have time to think about Zhao. Now, she had a sister-in-law.

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**Did you like it?** **Oh, you may remember me rambling like two chappies earlier that Ty Lee was going to have a boyfirend at school named Tomo. The boyfirend is still a go, but the name is changed to...I don't know yet. And I went as an Angel for Halloween, Hopefully, the next chapie willl get up much sooner. **


	18. The Plot

**Yay! Another chappie! Sorry, I am starting to get more dedicated to writing, as I have more free time. This chapter was hard to write, but i finally got it done. This is very important chapter though, even though I didn't nescasarrily (i spelled that wrong) like it. I knew this had to happen, but I didn't want to do it. Oh well...it might get a bit confusing too, but it is more explained in the next chapter. R&R and when I say review, i meant it. Please review, I beg of you!!!**

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Laughter and bright lights filled the courtyard. Kei and Miyako sat at the head of the table that now held the wedding feast. Ty Lee was next to Mai and Zuko, a few seats away from the newly-weds. Zhao and her father were between them. 

Zhao. Ty Lee had an unnerving feeling in her stomach as she grabbed her fork. What was Zhao up to? And why was her father supporting it? Well, it was probably because they were best friends. But she still didn't feel comfortable about it.

The first course was orange turtleduck and some fried beans on top of steaming rice. The three kids licked their lips in approval.

"Your cook makes the best food, Ty Lee." Mai commented, snatching her chopsticks.

"I have to agree with that." Zuko added. "We pretty much fire a cook every month, so you can never know their full potential." He dipped his chopsticks into the turtleduck and stuffed some in his mouth. Mai did so as well. Ty Lee stared as both of their eyes widened in amazement.

"Oh guys, you are just playing with me." She giggled. "It can't be _that_ good."

Zuko looked down and blushed.

"It is good, but we are overdoing it a little…" He admitted, "It's just…" Mai put her finger to her mouth and hit Zuko on the top of his head, "Ow!"

"You should start eating, Ty Lee." Mai insisted. She nodded and took a bite of her dinner. She should be happy now. Her brother just got married. But now her mind was distracted. Something was going to happen tonight. Something to do with Zhao.

Looking down at her hand, she noticed her color was a pale blue. If other people could see this, they would think she was sick. She did feel sick. The feeling in her stomach grew worse every second.

She took another bite. The sweet sauce swished around in her mouth, and she paused.

_Never stop smiling._

Ty Lee reached down and grabbed her necklace, keeping it out of the view of the guests. She was breaking her promise to Kei. She had to remain happy, even though she felt bad. Which, she wasn't even sure why she felt bad. Actually, she had no sane reason to believe anything was going to happen tonight.

She sighed, and Mai smiled when she saw the familiar glow light up her friend's face. When Ty Lee was upset, she knew something must be wrong. Mai noticed that nothing ever seemed to bring her down, and she admired that. Now if only she could act the same way…

Servants appeared behind each guest at the table and added another plate in front of them. This one had some kind of meat bathed in a dark sauce. Ty Lee quickly finished up her turtleduck in order to get to the next course.

"So, what is it like to have your brother married?" Zuko asked.

"It'll just mean I have another family member." Ty Lee answered.

"You don't think Miyako will hog him all the time?"

She hadn't thought of that.

"Oh that's right…they'll probably be kissing most of the time, and then they will have a baby…that doesn't leave much time for me, does it?" Ty Lee realized out loud, "But I'm sure Miyako will let me have him once in awhile."

"What if they move away?" Mai inquired. Ty Lee hadn't thought of that either. Did marriage really bring about such hard decisions?

"Kei wants to live with us, because…" She stopped and grew cold. Her mother didn't need Kei. No, that's not why he was staying. She needed Kei. He was her only protection from her father…she couldn't let her friends know that… "…because he loves us so much!" She put on a big smile and spread out her arms, showing how much he loved them.

"Ow!" Mai rubbed her leg. "I'm sorry guys, I hit my leg. It still hasn't fully healed after that night…" Ty Lee sighed. They switched topics.

"It didn't seem that bad…" Zuko remarked. "I guess it's still bruised."

"That would make sense…" The conversation between her two friends faded as Ty Lee turned. A small hint of movement had caught her eye, and she wanted to find out what was up. Unfortunately, it was something she had rather not seen.

Zhao. He was over in a corner by the entrance to the kitchen, talking rapidly to a servant. He had a strange-looking vial in his hand and he kept trying to shove it into the man's grasp. The servant had a worried look on his face, his arms crossed and his hands clenched.

"Oh no…" Ty Lee muttered, scooting her chair back. Mai stared as she watched her stand up and walk towards the wall.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

"I…uh…need to…" She looked back and saw both Zhao and the servant were not at the door, and Zhao wasn't at his seat. "I have to…go to the kitchen!"

Mai sighed. Ty Lee had already raced her way to the entrance and she knew there was nothing stopping her.

"What was that all about?" Zuko asked, obviously not paying attention.

Ty Lee ducked into the kitchen and raced past all the cooks, who weren't surprised to see her. If Zhao wasn't at his seat, she figured, he had gone somewhere in this direction. And if he went this direction, he was hiding from what was about to happen.

As she turned out of the kitchen into the hall, she stopped mid-step. Zhao was about twenty steps ahead of her, fortunately with his back turned. The color around him was a malicious red. Her breathing quickened and she tried her best to stay as quiet as she could. Slowly, she put one foot forward, and then another. Her blood froze as a voice called her name.

"Ty Lee. I know you're there." The voice almost sneered.

"Z-zhao!" She almost screamed, but it came out as more of a squeak.

"It's so unfortunate, that it has to be this way…" He turned, with a smile as cold as ice. "You were supposed to be out there in a few moments. Your father asked that it would happen. Now it looks like your fate must be sealed in a different manner…"

Suddenly, there was an ear-piercing shriek from the courtyard. Miyako.

"Mama!!?? Mama!!!" Miyako cried out. "What happened? Why…!!!??" Mama? Ty Lee cringed. Her eyes filled with tears.

"Zhao what did you do?" She demanded.

"Your father will be upset…" He replied, disregarding her question. "He only wanted me to put the plant in your drink, not hers. But she has been too much of a hindrance…"

"What did Mama do to you?!" She asked.

"Everything. I am suspended from the Navy at the moment, you want to know why?" She glared back at him, "She told them about me destroying the library. Apparently, they care more about information than pure power…"

"You're evil, Zhao." She spat.

"Sure I am, little girl. And now I have to finish what your father asked of me…" He lunged forward, catching her by surprise. She flipped back and extended her leg, striking him in the face. The blow temporarily stunned him, giving her just enough time to start running down the hall. The screams from the courtyard grew louder, as well as frantic movement.

Curses could be heard behind her as she rounded the corner toward the dining room. He was just behind her, following her every move. She stopped in front of the table in the dining room, and swiftly jumped on it. She was almost to the end of the room, and when she reached that she would escape through the front door and make her way to the courtyard.

Ty Lee leapt forward and rolled to the ground. The exit was right in front of her. She reached her hand out on the floor to propel her forward. Pain seared through her hand and she drew it back. Flames engulfed the doorway in front of her. She stood up abruptly and turned around to see him right in front of her.

"You can't run this time, girl." Zhao smiled, as he lifted up a charred table leg. Ty Lee flinched. She knew something bad was going to happen today. She knew it.

He raised the weapon in his hand and smacked it down with full force. Ty Lee saw black and fell down to the ground, her head smacking against the floor.

* * *

**Suspenseful ending, dun dun dun! Yeah, Zhao is an evil man!!!! BAD ZHAO!!! I am done with my ranting...most of what happened will be explained wether in the next chapter or in the author note of the next chappie..the next chapter will be super emotional, and secrets will be revealed!!!**

**Now, on a lighter note...WHERE IS TY LEE? I have seen up to episode 13 (my regards to Canada) and no Ty Lee! (I hope you didn't take that as a spoiler) She better come back :(**


	19. The Revelation

**Please oh please don't kill me or send an angry mob out to get me! This was mmy last day of school, and I finally remembered to update. I am so easily distracted by everything and anything, and I have kept putting this off. Actually, the first paragraph was written a few months ago, but then I had a ds obsession. Then, when I went on vacation to Hawai'i over spring break I finsihed the chapter, but when I read it late, I realized it was not how I liked it. So, here I am, and I promise to update reguarally from now on. I AM SO SORRY FOR PUTTING IT OFF!! But if I put it off this long again, I give you full permission to form an angry mob and murder me. This chappie was kind of rushed, since I only thought out some of the main parts. The dialouge stinks, but it should get better...oh well, R&R**

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The screaming ringed in her head as she struggled to stay asleep. The screams. They were horrifying, ear-piercing screams. Her mind ached for rest, but who would give it to her? Then, there was fire. It filled her entire vision. Consuming her. Then it was black, as it was before.

Ty Lee's body sprang up, her palms and forehead sweaty. She breathed in slowly, calming herself. Where was she? She looked around. This was her room. Why was she in her room? She looked again. There were also many people in her room. Why was that? All she could remember was the wedding, the feast…and then…only fire and screams. Her mind swam through memories, trying to pick out what had happened to cause those horrible screams. And…what had happened to cause this pain on her head?

"She's awake." A woman's voice called from the other side of the room, alerting the other people of her consciousness. They all stared intently at her. Ty Lee moaned and slunk back down into her pillow. She wanted to sleep. But she couldn't. The whole situation she was now in perplexed her. And something else was different too. She knew it, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. She knew now she needed someone to explain this to her.

"Kei…" She whispered, her voice hoarse from lack of water. The woman nodded, and rushed out the door. The others soon came up to her, asking her questions about her condition.

"Are you alright?"

"Where does it hurt, sweetie?"

"What happened?"

Ty Lee sighed and answered them one at a time, except for the last one.

"I don't know…" She muttered. By now, she realized that these people were doctors, and they were checking her well-being. But right now the only one she wanted to see was Kei.

A sound from the doorway caused Ty Lee to raise her head. She forced a small smile. He didn't return it. She watched his movements as he walked over. He seemed tired. The doctors backed away so that he could sit down on the bed.

"…Ty Lee, you're awake…" He looked down.

"Kei, I…" She stopped and stared at her brother. He was crying, and he grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight.

"You don't deserve this…you're too young." He whispered between sobs.

"…Kei, what happened?"

"Mama…he tried to kill…Mama…" He slowly stood up and walked over to the only window in her room. His face tensed up. "…all over that stupid scroll!!" Fire shot out of his clenched fists.

"Who, Kei?"

"…Zhao…Zhao did it…"

Ty Lee's eyes widened, and an image flashed through her mind. The flames. The screams. And the face. Zhao.

"Zhao…" She muttered with a hint of fear in her voice. Kei noticed this. He moved back over to her bed.

"Oh…Ty Lee, it's okay. He won't try to hurt you." He tried to reassure her. "Papa…took care of him…"

"…will Mama…will she…?" Tears began to well in her eyes. Kei remained silent.

"Come with me…" He got up, took her hand and tried to pull her up. But she stayed still.

"..Kei, wait. What happened…to me?" Ty Lee asked. His eyes grew narrow.

"…well…"

"We aren't quite sure…" A voice came from the door. It was Miyako. Her face was full of grief. "It looks like you tripped over a light and hit your head, giving you a concussion. We found you in the room, with half of it burned." That explained the flames she saw. But something didn't seem right.

"Oh…" She pretended to agree. "That makes sense…"

"Ty Lee, the reason I came here is because she woke up, and she is asking for you." Miyako put her hand to her mouth to keep from crying. Ty Lee nodded and slowly inched her way off the bed. They made their way from Ty Lee's room to their mother's, keeping quiet the whole time. Ty Lee stared intently at Miyako and Kei. There was something different. The something she had noticed before. She tried to focus on it, but she couldn't. All her senses felt numb today, and she couldn't concentrate.

They made it to the room fairly quickly, the silence unnerving. The door was closed, and Miyako had to knock to get it opened. A doctor pulled it ajar, and, after seeing it was Miyako, motioned for them to come in. Ty Lee entered slowly after the other two, watching her surroundings. The room seemed increasingly gloomy since she last came in. And it smelled funny. And it had a lot of doctors in it.

"Ty Lee…" The faint voice was barely audible, but she knew her mother's voice anywhere. She turned around to where the sound had emanated. Of course, it was the bed.

Her mother was pale, and her smile was small. Her hair had turned a few shades lighter. She seemed frail and helpless, like a china doll that would break if you barely touched it. And yet, there was such hope in her eyes. Ty Lee blinked to stop the tears.

"Mama!" She ran forward to the bed and embraced her mother, held her close. Now more than ever, she wanted her reassuring word. To tell her that everything was okay.

"Oh…my darling…" Sakura whispered in her ear. "I am so sorry…"

"It's not your fault Mama…"

"Miyako, dear, could I please have some alone time with my daughter?" Sakura implored.

"But, Mama, that would hardly be safe! What if you…?" Her daughter-in-law objected.

"Just a few minutes, please."

"I guess that could be arranged…" Miyako sighed. Then she gestured for everyone to leave the room. The doctors quickly left with no objection, but Kei lingered and Miyako had to pull him out.

"Ty Lee, I am afraid you are the only one who will understand this…" Sakura said once they had all left. "They tell me my situation has gone critical because of the drugs Zhao gave me. But it is unlikely that I will die from it. However…" She trailed off.

"What is it Mama?" Ty Lee asked.

"…They said I might go into a coma." Ty Lee's eyes widened, "Now, I know that may sound bad, but a coma is really just a long sleep, and usually people wake up from it."

"But what if you don't wake up?" Her mother stayed quiet for awhile.

"Ty Lee, in order to make sure I have the proper care, I am going to be living at a hospital for awhile." She finally said.

"But Mama!" Ty Lee cried.

"Now, Ty Lee. Stay strong. I am going to come back. I just need to recover from this. The doctor's said it wouldn't be too long. Just think of it as going on a vacation."

"But why am I the only one who will understand…?"

"Ty Lee, there is something I have never told anyone…ever. You are the only one that seems to be connected, and so I am going to tell you, since I make not get the chance to later. But you have to first promise that you will never, ever, tell a soul about this." Sakura's face grew grave with seriousness. Ty Lee nodded.

"I promise."

"Good." She sighed. "I…well…it starts with a story. A story that began before your grandfather, my father, was born. You know about the Air Nomads, right?"

"Yeah, Kei told me."

"Well, when the Fire Nation decided to attack to conquer the world, they realized it would be best to destroy the Air Nomads first, since they were peaceful and wouldn't be expecting it. But they didn't know how to catch them by surprise. There was a monk from the Nomads named Afiko, and he was very jealous. Afiko betrayed the Nomads and in return the Fire Nation spared his life. He removed his tattoos, and went to live a life of peace among the Fire Nation." Ty Lee's hand shot up. "Yes?"

"Why did he…uh…bet-tray his people?"

"Betray, dear. Betray. Well…we are not quite sure. Some say he found out about the attack and wanted to save his own life. Others think he wanted to kill the Avatar because of his jealousy."

"The Avatar?"

"Oh, you don't know who he is?" Ty Lee shook her head. "Well he, or she I guess, is a special person that comes every now and then to bring peace to the four nations. He is the only person who can master all four of the elements. After one Avatar dies, another one with the same ability to master all elements is born. But, they have to learn it again. They are always in a cycle, being born in one of the nations once every time around. This time an Avatar was born in the Air Nomads."

"Oh…"

"Anyways, Afiko lived in the Fire Nation like any other citizen. That also meant her married, and had several children, one of which was my father…Ty Lee, don't you get it?" Sakura became excited, "I, and you for that matter, are part Nomad."

Ty Lee pondered this. A lot of information had just been given to her, and she wasn't quite sure how to take it. She was…an Air Nomad?

"But…how do you…?" She tried to ask, but the words wouldn't come out right.

"Haven't you noticed that both your hair and my hair are a completely different color that anyone else you know? And our eyes are grey, not yellow like everyone else." She was right. Azula's and Mai's hair were both raven black and their eyes were yellow. Same with Kei and her father. "And you…I am not sure whether you can bend or not, but you definitely have the flexibility and skill that hasn't been seen since the Nomads were wiped out."

"But then…why can Kei firebend, and why doesn't he look like you?"

"I think Kei inherited more from his father than me. But don't you see? You have a big responsibility now. You and I are the living legacy of the Nomads."

"And the other boy."

"What?"

"He lives in the Swamp. He said he was going to return, and then he got frozen in some ice. But he had tattoos like Nomads."

"…? Oh, you mean the swamp where you got the flower. Yes, of course, he is too." Sakura tried her best to feign a smile, but Ty Lee knew she was fibbing. Oh well, she couldn't really expect anyone to believe her anyways.

"But, Mama…what about- " Ty Lee was interrupted by violent knocking on the door, and loud shouts from the other side.

"What do you mean, I can't go in? She is my wife! And I will let you know that I have every right to see her as anyone who is in there!" She cringed as her father yelled at one of the doctors.

"She requested that she be alone, _Papa_." A stern Miyako informed.

"Just because you are part of this family, doesn't mean you have any more authority then you used to, peasant." He whispered menacingly, before blasting the door open with an explosion of fire. The dust caused by the collision was quickly waved away by Lee, so he could see what he was missing. His eyes widened when he saw Ty Lee next to Sakura. His face expressed his deep anger, but was morphed back into a straight face when he saw Sakura's chastising look.

"Lee, what are you doing?" His wife asked.

"I-I…" He regain his anger rapidly, "How…how dare you talk to her before me! I am your husband, Sakura!! She is just an accident, and you know it."

"How dare you talk to our daughter like that, Lee! She is your only one you know. You should cherish her for who she is, not for who you want her to be. And don't even lie. I know you wanted her to be a boy. Everyone does. And not being a firebender just made it worse. But you know what? It's not about you!" Sakura spoke with an anger Ty Lee had never heard before.

"…You don't…understand- " Lee was taken aback by her words.

"Of course I do. You just-" Suddenly, Sakura's eyes grew blank and she fell back into her pillow. Her breathing slowed down. Ty Lee screamed, causing Miyako to run in. The blood ran from Lee's face.

"What happened- Oh my…!!" Miyako gasped. "She…she went into a coma! Doctors! We need to get her ready to be transported! Now…!"

Doctors ran past Ty Lee to Sakura, but everything slowed down for her. It was so quick, too quick. And only one thing seemed to go the same pace as her. That was her father's angry face, staring directly at her. Fear. She now, feared him more than ever.

Kei came in, and stopped at the door. Ty Lee rushed over and wrapped her arms around him.

"It's all my fault! They were fighting over me, and…I don't know…she went into a coma!" She cried.

"No…Ty Lee, we were waiting for this to happen…it was just chance that it happened then. But now they can take her to the hospital and get her the help she needs. She'll be back soon."

"But…I didn't get to say goodbye…" She whimpered.

"Then, why don't you do it now?" She nodded and walked over to her mother, and leaned over into her ear. The Doctors stepped back to watch what was going to happen.

"Goodbye, Mama. I love you…" She whispered, and then slowly kissed her on the cheek. Then she moved back over to her brother, tears in her eyes. Taking her hand, he guided her out of the room. Lee remained standing where he was, not before giving her a mean look.

"Don't worry, poodlemonkey. Everything will be alright. I promise, I will not let him hurt you." Kei whispered reassuringly. Ty Lee nodded, and looked up at him. At least she still had Kei. As they walked down the hall, Ty Lee let go of his hand.

"Can I go to my room now?" She asked.

"If you want to." He replied. With his words, she ran down and turned into her room. She jumped over and landed in her bed, letting the pillow soak in her tears.

She stared down at her hands, expecting them to be blue, just like anyone else's when they were sad. But when she looked she gasped. She now realized what had been different. She couldn't see the colors anymore.

**Oooookkaaay. No, Sakura is not dead. I was going to kill her, but I decided to just put her in a coma. I don't think Zhao will come back...but if he does, he is going to get beat up or something. Oh, and she will see auras again. I was just ticked off at writing about it, so I decided that she should temporarily lose the ability. The Air Nomads thing comes from my Theory of her being an Air Nomad, which I have proof and some of it was in the story (i.e. Hair and eye color is distinctly different)**

**And...This is probably the end of the first story arc...you could say it that way, and the next chapter may start the next story arc, which focuses on the school years, but that also means I may have to skip two years where nothing happened. I hopeyou are okay with that. I expect this story in the end to be 40+ chapters, so be ready. **

**Oh, I saw the Boiling Rock! MAN TY LEE PWNS!! That is all I will say in regard to the awesome episode. If you have seen it, I would love to discuss!! Okay, I will hope to update soon!**


	20. The Scroll

**Hey! That was a pretty fast update! For my standards that is...I have decided to take this into the future, two years that is. It is kind of filler-ish...but oh well. At first it was a real traumatic story about Tay's past...I may do some of that later...but oh well. Oh it was funny, I was reading a story on , and it was 14 chapters, and I thought 'wow, that is really long...I mean really long!', and then I remembered that my fanfic was 19+ and growing...wow...oh well R&R**

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2 years later

Ty Lee blinked, and then stared at Miyako. The older girl was grinning at her naivety, and she personally didn't like it.

"You…what?" The ten-year-old asked.

"I'm pregnant, poodlemonkey. I'm having a baby." She repeated her earlier comment with a hint of pleasure. A baby? Ty Lee slowly let the words sink in. A baby…"W-When!?" She asked, finally understanding.

"Three months, can't you tell?" Miyako smiled and pointed down to her stomach. Ty Lee looked and saw that it was increasingly larger then the last time she looked. She blushed.

"Oh…I guess…I don't look down there…often…" She muttered, embarrassed. Miyako suppressed a giggle. "Does anyone else know?"

"Kei, of course. It is his baby too. And Papa has known for a day or two." She put her finger to her chin, thinking, "Several servants…oh…and some of my peers…and…I'm not sure who else…"

"Why did you decide to tell me now, and not before?"

"Well…we thought you would notice…personally, we thought everyone would notice by now…but we guess we were wrong…" She smiled, "I was going to tell all of you at the start, but Kei suggested we should wait until closer to the delivery, in case there were any…complications…But that closer kept getting farther away…and finally we chose to tell when someone finally realized my…belly size. That happened three days ago. Tay put the pieces together."

"That makes sense. He is very observant." Ty Lee commented.

"Next was Papa, and then several others. You still hadn't figured it out, so I just decided to come out and tell you."

"Is it going to be a girl or a boy?"

"Now Ty Lee, no one can determine that before it is born." Miyako reminded.

"But Papa always tries to find out before-hand with those fortunetellers and such."

"And have any of them been right?"

"I guess not…"

"I really hope it is a girl though…" She looked at Ty Lee intently, "I want to be able to dress her up and do her hair…and let her be your friend."

"Oh, I would love to!" Her eyes glowed with excitement. She always was thrilled to have a new friend, even one that was younger than her. The only real friends she had now were Miyako, Kei, and Mai. And it was getting harder for Mai to come and play with her, since she had to keep going with her parents on political trips.

"But you would also be her aunt, since you are her father's sister." Ty Lee hadn't thought about that. An aunt…that made her sound old. She giggled. Miyako laughed too.

Tay walked in slowly, watching the two girls laugh. He felt bad to interrupt their conversation, which seemed very lively from his perspective. He cleared his throat, announcing his presence.

"Hm?" Ty Lee whipped her head around in his direction. "Oh, hi Tay!"

"Hello Ty Lee," He turned to the older girl, "Miyako."

"Do you need something?" Miyako asked.

"Only to tell you that lunch is prepared." He replied sheepishly.

"Oh, thank you."

"Yay! I'm starving!!" Ty Lee immediately jumped up and cartwheeled out the door. Miyako walked out behind her, leaving Tay in the room. He smiled. Ty Lee was such a good girl. Miyako too.

Slowly he followed them. Just as he was walking through the doorway, Ty Lee jumped in front of him, as if out of thin air. He raised his arms up in surprise.

"Hey! Tay!" She yelled with glee. "I scared you, didn't I?"

"That you did." He smiled, lowering his arms.

"Guess what?" Before he was able to say a word, she went on, "We have an idea."

"And what would that be?"

"Since Papa is off on a meeting, you can eat with us!"

"Oh, thank you…but I am afraid I will have to decline that offer."

"Why?"

"Because I have to eat with all the other servants."

"But Papa isn't here, and we won't tell!" She pouted and stared up at him with big, watery eyes, "Please??" Tay looked past her and saw Miyako, who was watching the exchange intently.

"I guess…it wouldn't hurt…" He admitted.

"Yay!" Ty Lee cheered, "Now all we need it Kei…" She looked around, "Where is he anyways?"

"Oh, he said something about checking the messenger hawk coops." Miyako inputted.

"Well then, I guess he will have to eat his curry cold!" She walked over to her seat and motioned for Tay to sit next to her. He complied. Ty Lee began filling her mouth with food instantly, chewing with rapid speed. But Tay just stared at his bowl. Could he really eat all that curry? It seemed like so much for one meal. The servants were only given so much to eat, nothing like how their masters were eating.

Slowly, he took his first bite. The taste was tantalizing, much better than any food he had when he was in servitude. He smiled stupidly as he savored the curry. Only then did he realize that Ty Lee was staring at him.

"Does it taste yummy?" She asked innocently, her eyes sparkling.

"Oh yes, very yummy. How do you like it."

"It's great!"

"Good, I'm glad you are enjoying it."

Their conversation was cut short when Kei suddenly burst into the doorway, panting and holding a scroll. Miyako got up and walked over to him.

"Kei, are you alright?" She asked lovingly.

"Yeah….I'm…..fine…." He said between gasps, "Ty…Lee…you…have……..mail!" Miyako took the scroll from his sweaty hands and gave it to the young girl. She opened it, and stared intently at the words, squinting her eyes. Then she rolled it up and passed it back to her sister-in-law.

"I can't read, remember?" She said. Miyako sighed and opened it again. She read silently to herself as Kei sluggishly made his way to his seat. As she finished the letter, she raised her free hand over her mouth, covering up a gasp.

"What is it?" Tay asked, curious.

"Yeah, what!?" Ty Lee cried eagerly. It wasn't everyday you got mail.

"It's…it's from Azula…" Miyako whispered. Ty Lee's excitement instantly disappeared. They hadn't communicated to each other since that day…Zuko hadn't even talked about her…

"What…?" She said.

"She…she wants you to go to school with her…to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls."

"School? Where…you learn…why!?"

"She says that both her and Mai will be attending, and Mai has spoken so well of you that she wants to be your friend again." Miyako scanned the page.

"This sounds like a trick…" Tay muttered.

"School…" Ty Lee mused.

"She also says your father has already given his consent."

"I'm sure that means a bribe was involved…" Kei informed.

"Papa would never let me go to school…" She thought aloud.

"Do you want to go?" Miyako asked.

"It doesn't look like she has much of a choice…" Kei reminded, "But Ty Lee, you must understand that you will live there…it is a boarding school."

"You mean…I wouldn't see you again? For how long?"

"I'm sure they have days that we could visit." Miyako glared at Kei who blushed. "Anyways, it would only be until you are fifteen."

"Five years…"

"Mai will be there." Kei inputted. Ty Lee thought this over. With her best friend for five years…and possible her worst enemy. But...maybe she could be her friend again...maybe...

"I guess…I guess it couldn't be that bad…"

**The end is a bit rushed, since I don't have much more time on the computer and I am leaving for a trip tommorow that lasts until thursday...so I probably won't be able to reply to any reviews soon. I'm sorry about that. Oh, some trivia! Did you know that this story was first called "The Many Degrees of a Smile"? But I thought that sounded odd, so I changed it. I like this one a lot better now. Oh, and I realized I made a mistake in an earlier chapter. In the chap when Ty Lee goes to the marketplace, she reads the tag on the firebending dragon. Then later she couldn't read at the zoo. This was because she wasn't supposed to be able to read at all (which is confirmed in the chap), so...whoops, she accidently read something years before she learned...I'm sorry about that...I hope to update soon, I'm not sure all that will happen in the next chap though...only that Azula will return!**


	21. The Royal Fire Acadamy for Girls

**Hey, I updated...phew This is a bit of a filler...and I think the next chappie will be one too. It will kind of introduce you to the arc of the story that is now happening. The dialogue stinks...kind of takes away from the moment...but sorry. I just really want to finish this story, so I can sya I finished my first story. And besides, I really love this story...it is just getting hard to write the boring parts lol XD. It will get more interesting...it will just take time...anyways...how did you guys think the finale went? I think this makes Ty Laru possible...AND TY LEE IS A KYOSHI WARRIOR!! I am already writing a story about that!! Be expecting to see it soon! But they didn't really explain what happened to Azula, and Ty Lee and Mai didn't seem to care! AND WHERE IS URSA!! And they never really said what Sokka's endship was...and Chit Zang never came back, Bryke got rid of Teo and Haru, and made them background characters...ugh...so anyways...R&R**

* * *

Ty Lee stared blankly out of the window as the carriage rolled along. Her chin rested on her hand, and she felt as if she was going to fall asleep at any given moment. Kei sat next to her and Miyako across from her. The carriage hit a bump in the road and jumped into the air. Ty Lee's head immediately shot up out of surprise.

The ride was very boring, and completely uneventful. That bump had been the first slightly interesting thing Ty Lee had experienced in about two hours. Why did the school have to be so far from home? Why did the carriage have to be so dull?

It at least gave her some time to think. About what was going to happen, that is. She wasn't sure how Azula was going to accept her or how she was going to treat her these next years. But she would still be kind to her. No matter have cruel she was. This was because Ty Lee had a bit of a plan. She decided that if she was nice to Azula, maybe she could set an example to her. It was always worth a shot.

Miyako sat calmly, rolling a scroll down so she could read more of it. That was why Ty Lee was going. She wanted to learn how to read, and other skills as well. Her father had always dismissed these thoughts, saying she was a dumb girl who didn't need an education. But she wasn't a dumb girl. And she wasn't going to be one.

The carriage stopped abruptly. Ty Lee was thrown forward and had to grab Miyako's legs so she wouldn't fall. The older girl looked down and smiled.

"It's hard to keep your balance in tight spaces, isn't it?" She asked playfully. Ty Lee grimaced.

"Yeah, yeah…" She replied, returning to her seat. "Are we almost there?"

"Actually, we're here." Ty Lee blinked, then instantly returned her gaze to the window. She felt Kei lean over her shoulder to look as well.

The sun shined brightly, several rays hitting the building. The school was increasingly larger than her home, but still outsized by the Royal Palace. Numerous columns held up the red shingled roof, and the entrance had to be made out of some kind of marble. Statues of dragons guarded the doors. Ty Lee smiled. This wasn't turning out to be so bad.

"How beautiful…" She whispered to herself. Kei and Miyako nodded as the door to the carriage opened.

"We have arrived." The driver stated as he beckoned them to exit. Ty Lee quickly jumped out of the carriage and stretched her arms and legs. She hated being cooped up in a confined space. The others walked out behind her without as much enthusiasm.

"Well, let's get going!" Kei exclaimed, taking the lead towards the entrance. Ty Lee walked slowly, taking in all that she couldn't see in the carriage. There were two fountains at the sides of the school, both spouting pure blue water. The columns had intricate designs on them, complete with spirals and twirls. She was completely enthralled.

It was not a long walk to get to the entrance, about a minute tops. The doors were very tall, even taller than Kei. Ty Lee stared at them for a moment, and then jumped back in surprise as they moved forward. It took her a second to realize that they were opening. A lady came out, holding herself in a very dignified manner. Her hair was grey and held up in a bun. She looked down at Ty Lee, her eyes boring a hole through her. Ty Lee tried her best to smile back.

"You must be Ty Lee…" She said precariously.

"Y-Yes ma'am." Ty Lee replied nervously.

"My name is Mrs. Cho. I am the director of the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. Please, come with me." She began to walk into the school, then stopped and tuned around, "And who may you two be?" The question was directed at Miyako and Kei.

"Oh…I'm her sister…I-I mean I'm her brother!! And this is my wife…" Kei blushed at his mistake, and quickly added, "…ma'am."

"Oh…the father couldn't be here? How sad that he won't see his daughter off…" There was a look of contempt in her eyes, as if she knew the relationship between Lee and her daughter. "Okay then, right this way."

She quickly led them through the doors, and Ty Lee cringed at the loud 'thud' as they closed behind them. Inside, the school was well furnished, with many pictures on the walls and plants. But this was only the main entrance. The dorms and classrooms were probably way less fancy than this.

"Since you are so favored by the princess, you are rooming with her and her other friend…the governor's daughter. Their room is the last one down that hall," Mrs. Cho pointed as the walked through the school, "Right now classes are in session, but you are to stay in your room until dinner. You'll learn your schedule tomorrow, but it won't be too hard to figure out. The princess has requested that you have the same classes as her."

Ty Lee nodded, but felt a little confused. If this was the truth, Azula probably was ready to be her friend again. Or she had something up her sleeve. She looked down the hall to see her room. There were about ten rooms, and hers was the last one.

"So, should I go in there now?" Ty Lee asked.

"Yes, and bring your things so you can get situated." Mrs. Cho bowed slightly, "Now, I must get going." They watched as she made her way down the other side of the hall and into a room.

"…Well…" Kei muttered, breaking a short silence, "She was…different…"

"Intimidating…" Miyako added, "Ty Lee, are you sure you will be alright here?"

"I hope so..." Ty Lee herself wasn't too sure. Everything was so strange and new…but surely she would be able to adapt. "We better go get my stuff…"

Several servants soon came pouring into the school, carrying all of her bags. Miyako had packed most of it, with minimal help from Kei and Ty Lee. Both siblings had been completely overwhelmed with all the clothes that were being squished into the bags. Miyako had just grinned at them and continued to pack. Even now, Ty Lee couldn't believe that she needed so many clothes. But then again, she was going to be gone for five years…

They slowly walked down to her room with the army of servants trailing behind them. The only noise that resonated down the hall was the bags hitting up against the servant's legs. Miyako held her stomach carefully, and suddenly squealed. This caused everyone to stop in their tracks.

"Oh, Kei! Ty Lee! Come here, quick!" She cried out in excitement. "It's kicking! It's kicking!"

Ty Lee jumped over as fast as she could, Kei right next to her. Miyako had sat down on one of the several benches on the side of the hall.

"What? What is it?" She asked, not understanding what Miyako had said.

"The baby is kicking in her stomach." Kei explained, "You can feel it if you put you hand on her."

"Can I?" Ty Lee asked Miyako.

"Of course." She nodded. The young girl warily placed her hand out and laid it on her stomach. At first it was very still. Ty Lee waited. But waiting was so boring. She started to lift her hand.

"Oh!" She yelped. It was as if a little jolt had run through her body from her fingertips. She quickly returned her hand back to its original position. Again she felt the vibrations emanating from inside Miyako. She smiled. For a little baby, it sure could kick. Kei was right next to her, his hand in a similar position.

"It's getting stronger…" He commented. "Maybe it is a boy…"

"Don't make assumptions so quickly, sweetie." Miyako reminded, "It could easily be a girl as well."

"Yeah, yeah…" Kei waved his free hand in the air carelessly. Miyako sat up, causing the others to step back away from her.

"Come on, we have to get Ty Lee's room ready." She said firmly, guiding everyone back down the hall.

They finally reached the last room, and Ty Lee opened the door. She gasped. The room was very spacious, and had a feeling of luxury. There were two large wardrobes and three beds, all with the finest silk bedding. The walls were painted a dark pink with white lining, which made Ty Lee even happier.

"This one must be yours," Kei said, making his way over to the bed that didn't already have items on it. He grabbed a bag on the way and dropped it on the bed, making a small ripple in the sheets. The rest of the servants came in and began to drop the luggage around the room. Then as quickly as they had come in, they left, and the three were left alone.

"Ty Lee, I'm afraid we have to leave now…" Kei said uncomfortably, "Papa expects us for dinner."

"But, Kei…I…" Ty Lee started.

"Ty Lee, you're scared, aren't you?" Miyako asked, "You're scared Azula won't accept you…"

"Yeah…" She admitted.

"Don't be scared. You can do anything. I know you can," She smiled reassuringly, "And Kei does too, don't you?"

"Of course."

"But that's not all…I'm going to miss you…" Tears began to form in Ty Lee's eyes.

"Don't cry, poodlemonkey." Kei said, kneeling down to look her in the eye, "You still have the necklace I gave you?" Ty Lee nodded and lifted it out from under her shirt. It had the original charm and the poodlemonkey charm attached on it.

"I've worn it every day since you gave it to me…I'm never going to take it off…"

"As long as you wear it, I'll be with you. I promise."

"Promise?"

"Hey, I already said I promise right?" He reminded, "But yeah, I promise."

"I love you Kei."

"I love you too, Ty Lee."

"And I love both of you." Miyako added, giving a kiss to both Ty Lee and Kei. Ty Lee gave a face of mock horror, and then smiled. "But we really have to go. Now."

"Okay, goodbye Kei! Goodbye, Miyako! Visit me a lot!"

"We will!" The answered at the same time as they exited the room.

Ty Lee sighed once they left. Why did they always have to be in such a rush? She wasn't going to see them in a long time…She put her hand to her necklace and smiled. But she would always have them…

Ty Lee jumped on the bed and let it soak her in like a sponge. As she looked about the room she saw that there was another door to her right. She got up and tried to open it, but it was jammed. She pouted and returned to the bed. She knew she was going to have to unpack soon, but she was too tired to now. She landed her head in the pillow and let sleep overtake her.

She awoke to sounds in the room and sat up abruptly. How much time had passed? It had only felt like a few moments. She wiped her eyes. A voice woke her up completely.

"Hello Ty Lee."

She gasped and turned. Azula.

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**I really like this ending though...kinda dramatic...but the next chappie is going to be WAY more interesting. I'm sorry if I disappointed you...I really needed to get this chapter out though...even if it is rushed. it will get better, I promise!!**


	22. The Promise

**Hi! My beta is being real slow on Saving Kyoshi, so I decided to update on this. It is a filler, only a bit longer than a page, but I think it is cute. The document the story is saved on is finally too big to load so I have to cut and paste then upload. I was waiting for that day lol. After this I am going to write another chapter of Savin Kyoshi just in case my beta FINALLY gets done (lol, jk), and then I will work a lot on this. I've planned most of this arc of the story, and I am really excited. Please R&R!!**

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Ty Lee stared wide eyed. The princess stood in a very sophisticated pose, with one hand on her hip. Her eyes reflected the cruel smile she was giving. And yet, she hadn't looked like she had changed much. Her hair was a bit lengthened, but not as much as Ty Lee's had. She also wore a bit of make-up, most apparent on her lips.

Mai stood silently behind her. She had definitely grown out her hair since Azula cut it off. Ty Lee wondered how long it would be without the buns. Her eyes seemed sadder, and she slouched a bit. This made Ty Lee feel bad. She obviously hadn't been doing well being with Azula alone.

"Well? Aren't you going to answer? Or are you just going to continue sitting there gaping?" Azula smirked. Ty Lee blushed at the realization that her mouth was wide open and firmly shut it.

"Uh…Hello Azula- Princess Azula…" She quickly bowed down and stood up.

"Oh please, we're friends aren't we? No need to remind me of my position every time you say my name." She paused, "Just 'Azula' will work."

"Oh…sorry Azula. I guess…I just…" She stammered. She didn't want to say that she was scared. That would just make her even more scared. "I was so excited to see you again, I guess I was nervous…I'm slipping up all over my words…" Ty Lee flashed a fake smile. Azula didn't look completely convinced, but Mai spared them an awkward conversation.

"Your hair is longer, Ty Lee." She pointed out. Her voice had grown much more flat than before. "It looks good on you."

"Thanks, I like yours too!" Azula coughed, indicating she didn't want to be left out, "Oh, and yours is so elegant, Azula."

"Thank you; I have the best hairdresser in the Fire Nation." She lifted her head in pride. Ty Lee resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Mai began to nervously pick at her own hair.

"So, how do things work here?" Ty Lee asked.

"You mean our classes?" Mai inquired in reply.

"Uh, yeah, I guess…" She didn't have the wildest clue what a class was.

"Well, we have composition and literature, arithmetic, music…oh you didn't bring an instrument, too bad. They always have an old Sungi horn on hand, though….and finally, history." Azula called off the names quickly, and Ty Lee barely had time to comprehend what was being said.

"Where do we learn how to write?" There was a silence after the question. Her eyes dashed back and forth from Mai to Azula, whose expressions were confusion. Finally, Azula let out a laugh.

"Were you not listening? Maybe your ears are more clogged than I thought. We learn _calligraphy_ in _composition and literature_." She replied spitefully, "And everyone knows that." Ty Lee's face burned in embarrassment.

"R-Right. I knew that." Ty Lee lied.

"Sure you did."

Just as Ty Lee was about to react with a snoot remark, Mai interrupted once more and changed subjects. She was relieved that she had. Ty Lee hated to be rude, but Azula through her over the edge sometime. But how would she be an example if she was being mean as well?

"Ty Lee, you should unpack your bags. If you leave them lying around, it makes the whole room look messy." Mai remarked, but not meanly. But she was right. The servants had randomly dropped off the bags in several different spots on the floor, making it almost impossible to navigate through.

"Yeah, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do with all the stuff in it. Miyako packed all of it, and I barely know what's inside the bags." She wanted to smack herself at mentioning Miyako, but it was too late. Azula's eyebrows rose, but any connections she made weren't expressed outside of her mind.

"I bet I can figure it out. It shouldn't be that hard." Mai shuffled over to the bed where one of the bags sat next to Ty Lee. She opened it up to reveal clothes, "All these need to go in my- our wardrobe." She picked up the bag and heaved it over to the second wardrobe. Azula walked over to her bed and lay on her back. Ty Lee ran over to help Mai.

"You really don't have to do this…" She said softly.

"I know your organizational skills, Ty Lee. You would never be able to do this by your-"

"I meant share a wardrobe with me." She explained. She gave a quick glance to Azula, who seemed completely unaware and uninterested in what they were saying. "She 'needs' that whole other one doesn't she?" Mai nodded and her eyes began to fill with tears. "No, don't cry! I can just keep my clothes in my bag."

Ty Lee put her hands on Mai's shoulders to try to calm her down. She was caught by surprise when Mai wrapped her arms around her in an embrace. The hot tears fell down her shirt, but she hugged her back.

"I've really missed you…" She admitted, "It's not been the same…It'll never be the same without you. I'm never going to go with her without you. Promise me you will never leave me."

"I promise." Ty Lee answered. She looked into Mai's eyes and saw all the hurt she had been through. She wouldn't allow her to be hurt ever again. "I promise."

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**Awww...I remember how much I used to hurt Mai in the story earlier (broken leg, Zuko forgetting name...etc.) but now I really love her character (as displayed slightly in Madness and a lot in Saving Kyoshi) and I wanted her to be really emotional about how Azula has been so cruel to her. Unfortunately, if you have thought ahead, Ty Lee breaks her promise (Running away to the circus?). I need some input from you. I need three girl's names (asian please, either chinese, japanese or korean. Those are the kinds I have used throughout the story (i.e. Kei (Japanese), Cho (Korean)) and a guy's name, preferably not starting with a T or K (I have used a bunch of those). I would really appreciate it! (They will be characters in upcoming chapters). I hope to update soon!**


	23. The First Morning

**Whew! I finally finished writing this. My Christmas Break just started, so I got a crackdown and finished this chapter. It was actually supposed to be a bit smaller, and the storyline was a bit different. But I got this interesting idea and decided to play off of it. It kind of cliffhangs though, because it would have been UBER long, so I will pick up where I left this one on the next chapter. This break I am going to focus on writing, so expect a lot more chapters coming soon. **

**I thank Fire Lord Lionheart and xemorockprincessx for their suggestions for names, two of which I used in this chapter: Asuka and Lien. I am planning to use more when more characters are introduced soon.**

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"What do you think this is?" Azula asked as she poked the lump that was laid on her plate before her. Her chopstick barely touched the mass before it completely broke through. She quickly withdrew her utensil in disgust. "Completely unacceptable…"

"Maybe it is some kind of egg…?" Ty Lee suggested, considering the kinds of food she generally had for breakfast. She sounded hopeful, but she regarded her portion of the meal with the same repulsion.

"Or its leftovers from the previous month all reprocessed…" Mai peered closer at her own plate, "That piece of it kind of looks like that one fish dish we had last week…"

"Completely unacceptable…" Azula repeated her earlier comment with even more displeasure. Her brows furrowed. She quickly got up and pushed her seat back in under the table. Her hair flipped as she took a sharp turn and walked passed all the tables in front of her to the door at the end of the cafeteria.

Every girl's eyes were locked on her as she moved, her posture elegant and royal. Her head was held high and refused to meet any of the other's faces. It was a new experience having royalty at the school. Now it was up to the students to find out if they liked it or not. Ty Lee noticed one girl in particular give a look of detestation in Azula's direction.

Mai sighed as Azula left the room.

"Even though we've only been here a week before you came, she has already figured out how the whole school works. It kind of amazing actually…" She commented.

"Where do you think she's going?"

"Probably to complain to Mrs. Cho." That made sense, and Ty Lee felt stupid for not figuring it out before.

"What is school like?" She quickly changed the subject.

"You'll find out in a few minutes, won't you?" Mai gave a half smile.

"I guess…it just sounds so…so different…"

"It's actually the basis for society." She explained, "Everything you will experience here will basically be how you live the rest of your life."

"What does that mean?" Ty Lee scrunched up her face in confusion.

"It means," Mai sighed, "That if girls are fighting over popularity now, they'll be doing it forever. If girls hate Azula now, they'll hate her forever." There was a glint in her eye that suggested she was referring to herself in that last comment, but Ty Lee hoped that wasn't the case. She didn't want anyone necessarily hating Azula; that would only make her meaner and more spiteful.

"But they haven't gotten to know her…" Ty Lee protested.

"They're lucky they haven't…" She replied sadly. Ty Lee gently reached over and placed her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Hey. I know Azula has done some pretty horrible things to you. I'm in the same boat." She smiled, "But, if we don't try to change her now, she'll never get any better."

"I guess that's right…" She gave a look of hope. "But don't expect me to be extra cheery around her or anything, okay?"

"Just show her kindness and eventually she should show some back!" Mai nodded slowly. Suddenly, a large sound erupted from the side of the cafeteria, causing Ty Lee to cover her ears and give a little yelp. Mai sat there unfazed.

"That was the gong. It tells you when it is time for classes." She informed.

"Well I got the message…" Ty Lee muttered, rubbing her aching ear. Mai had already gotten up and started to move towards the doors. "Wait! Shouldn't we wait for Azula?"

"Considering how loud the gong was, I'm sure she knows to go to class."

"Oh…yeah, right…" She blushed a little bit at her slowness to grasp the obvious. She slowly raised herself from her seat and followed her friend.

She shouldn't have been surprised when she received the same treatment that Azula had. Once more everyone was looking at them, even though they weren't the only ones leaving. Ty Lee hoped that just because she was friends with Azula it didn't mean everyone else thought she was like her.

The halls were filled with girls as they tried to move towards their room. Ty Lee instantly grabbed Mai's hand, not wanting to be separated in the crowd. She proudly knew her class schedule and exactly where the room was. Composition and Literature was first. The class was the third room down from the cafeteria in the education wing. They inched forward, trying not to bump into any of the other students.

Finally, they reached their room. Ty Lee felt buttermoths in her stomach. She had felt so prepared earlier, but now she was so nervous. She had to make a good first impression with all the students. Perhaps she could even make new friends. She just hoped no one would hate her just because she was affiliated with Azula.

They walked in, Mai instinctively moving to her seat, leaving Ty Lee at the entrance. It was not a considerably large room, but it was still bigger than her own bedroom at home. There was a window on the west side and a larger desk near her in front of a charcoal board of some sort. The rest of the room consisted of smaller desks, almost more like tables, with some items laid on top of them. Many students were already seated, such as Mai, but there were still some empty desks. She was overwhelmed. Where was she supposed to sit?

"Excuse me."

The voice took her completely by surprise. She turned around and saw a girl standing right next her, almost close enough to touch her if she leaned forward. She jumped back quickly, to the surprise of the girl. She let out a little yelp.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, did I scare you?" She fiddled with her glasses. She had raven-black hair, as was accustomed to the Fire Nation, down to her shoulders. Two small braids fell down next to her cheeks. Her eyes seemed unusually large, but perhaps it was just the way they reflected the light behind the glasses. "My name is Asuka, and I'm the Iincho for this class." She bowed down traditionally, as Ty Lee did in return.

"Asuka? That's a pretty name." Ty Lee smiled as Asuka glowed in pride, "I'm Ty Lee. Uh…what's an Iincho?"

"Oh, that's just a fancy word for class representative."

"Uh…what's a class representative?"

"My, you sure are new." She said, not unkindly. "I take care of all the activities and schedules for this year's class. And by this year's class, I mean everyone who is in 3rd year Elementary class."

"Oh wow. That must be real hard."

"Not really, I've been the Iincho for two years now. It becomes very enjoyable. Now I came to tell you something…what was it…" She put her finger to her mouth. Ty Lee suddenly wondered if someone with this attention span should be in charge of the schedule of the whole class. "…Oh, that's right! I need to show you your desk."

She walked over to the desk in the back corner by the window. Ty Lee followed behind, anxiously waiting to sit down again.

"Thanks!" She said, instantly sitting down in her seat.

"You're welcome. Oh, and I also needed to inform you that…that's right; you have to introduce yourself to the class today. It may sound intimidating, but I'll assure you its not. We all have to do it at one point." She bowed again, signaling that she was leaving. Ty Lee bowed too, and watched her leave. She seemed nice. A little polite and absentminded, but nice.

On her desk sat a rolled up scroll and a beautifully ornate pot holding some ink. This excited her. They were going to learn how to write…er… do calligraphy. There was nothing to write with though, not that Ty Lee even knew what one would write with. Perhaps it would come later.

Everyone else was piling in, but Ty Lee couldn't see Azula anywhere. Still talking to Mrs. Cho it seems. Seeing everyone else reminded her that she would have to introduce herself in front of them. She wasn't necessarily intimidated, as Asuka had guessed. She just felt unprepared. What would she say? How would she make a good first impression?

It was generally loud because of the kids who were already in the class. Ty Lee felt a bit left out, since she had no one to talk to. Mai was at the other side of the room. Asuka was talking to someone else. Azula was absolutely no where to be seen. Being in a corner, Ty Lee had no one sitting to her left. The window was there though, and she saw the sun hanging brilliantly in the sky. There was someone in front of her, but she could only see her back and thus couldn't tell if she was already in a conversation or not.

To her right, however, was a girl slumped down in her seat. She seemed to feel as awkward as Ty Lee, having no one to talk to. Her facial features looked awfully small, except her ears, which jutted out unnaturally. As if she knew someone was looking at her ears, she brushed her bangs over them, concealing them completely. Smart. Her hair held a trace of brown speckled in her black strands. There was a traditional bun on top of her head, but several clumps of hair escaped from it and trailed down her back.

Ty Lee sucked in air as she considered how to open up to her. She was usually good at talking to people, and wasn't shy one bit. But the fact that this girl looked so reclusive, she had to wonder how she could say something that would make her want to talk to her. She didn't even know who she was. Introductions seemed most proper.

"Uh…hi…I'm…" Ty Lee started. The girl didn't even look her way. She was about to start again when she heard someone calling for attention.

"Attention! Everyone, please, settle down." Asuka stood in front of the desk, a small gong in her hand. When the ruckus of the girls didn't calm down, she began to rap the gong violently. All the girls looked at her and sat down immediately. "Thank you. Sensei Koboyashi is entering the room."

Ty Lee turned to see a younger lady stride through the doorway. She smiled as she stood behind her desk. This must be her teacher. Ty Lee was ecstatic. She looked like a nice person. Sensei Koboyashi waved her hand politely, dismissing Asuka. The Iincho proudly returned to her seat.

"Good morning class." She greeted warmly.

"Good morning Sensei." Ty Lee didn't realize that the reply was mandatory, and said her greeting a few seconds later than the others. Fortunately, she was so far from the front she doubted her teacher knew.

"It's time to recite the Fire Nation Oath." All the students stood up, Ty Lee once again lagging behind. She didn't know any oath. She never had to take oaths at home.

"My life, I give to my country. With my hands, I fight for Fire Lord Ozai and our forefathers before him. With my mind, I seek ways to better my country, and with my feet I venture to walk the path of the noble and just."

Ty Lee felt distressed as the rest of the class recited the oath. She kept her head down and mumbled a few words after she heard them. Hopefully no one would notice. She was a bit shorter than the others; maybe she would be hidden behind everyone else.

At the end of the oath, everyone bowed. Ty Lee bowed also. She sighed, glad that that was over with. When she raised her head she saw that Sensei Koboyashi was no longer at her desk. Not only that, but everyone in the room was looking in her direction, some with evil grins plastered on their faces. She blushed and stared at the floor once more. A hand grabbed on to her shoulder. She bit her lip in order not to scream.

"Good effort, but next time try to get the words right you two." It was Sensei Koboyashi. Ty Lee's blush grew intense. It was only then when she realized that she wasn't only addressing her. She turned and saw Sensei's other hand resting on the shoulder of the girl next to her.

Her eyes widened. Why had this girl not said the oath? Obviously she knew the words, for she didn't look as embarrassed as Ty Lee. In fact, she looked more defiant than anything. Was it something about the words? Ty Lee had to admit, knowing what the Fire Nation had done at some points, the words were not fitting for its reputation.

"I'm sorry Sensei…" Ty Lee finally said, "It's just that…I didn't know the words…" She waited for the snickers that would ensue. A few small ones could be heard, but not at all what she had expected.

"And that's all right; it's only your first day. You will get the hang of it eventually." Her smile reassured Ty Lee and she allowed her to sit down. Now her attention was focused on the other girl, "Now, Lien, this isn't your first day. You've been here for awhile. You should know it at this point." She paused here, expecting a response. The girl, Lien, didn't make any sign that she had even heard her teacher.

Asuka walked over to the corner of the room where the spectacle was taking place. Her face looked a bit grave. She looked directly at Lien.

"Lien, it would be in your best interest to explain why you weren't reciting with us." She explained, "You don't want to get a punishment, do you?" To Ty Lee's surprise, the quiet girl shook her head subtly.

"Then, why weren't you?" Sensei Koboyashi looked a bit exasperated.

"…I…" Her voice was a bit shaky, and she looked about the room. She sighed, and turned her face from the teacher, "…I have…no legitimate reason…" She blushed and squirmed under her teacher's grasp. Asuka slinked back to her seat and lodged her cheek on top of her arms.

Sensei Koboyashi released her grip and walked to the front of the room. She grabbed a scroll from her desk and rolled it open.

"Thank you for your explanation. Unfortunately, it was not as acceptable as I would have hoped," She picked up a brush and began to create strokes on the scroll. She lifted her eyes at Lien. "You know what to do. You've had to do it enough the past week."

Ty Lee watched as the girl slowly trudged out to the exit. Her shoulders slumped down and she avoided eye contact to anyone she passed. On the way out, she grabbed two buckets full of water that sat near the door. Odd. Ty Lee hadn't noticed them there before.

"I've been easy on you so far, Lien. But if you disgrace this country one more time, I'm afraid I will have to take your punishment to the next level. And I do not think that you will want that." The teacher sneered, "Believe me, you won't."

Lien's brows furrowed and she gave a slight glare. Then she continued out the door, the water sloshing out of one of the buckets. It splashed a little on the floor, hitting some of the desks in the front row. The girls in those seats recoiled with disgust. She wondered what Lien was going to do with those bucket. She wondered why the girl was so defiant. And she wondered why Azula still wasn't in class yet.

She hoped that Lien would finish her punishment soon. The girl seemed sad and lonely, and that made Ty Lee want to help her. In fact, she almost reminded her of Mai. But something was a little different about their demeanors. Mai hadn't actually defied Azula. Yet.

Sensei Koboyashi ran her hands through her hair, obviously frustrated at her student. She rested her head on the desk. Then, she quickly lifted her head up. A bright smile was fixed on her face. She motioned to Asuka frantically.

"Asuka, my dear. How far had we gotten through the schedule before we were interrupted?" She asked. The Iincho raised her head and adjusted her glasses.

"Sensei, we hadn't even gotten past the oath. If you recall, that was the reason…"

"Ah yes, I remember now." She stood up. "Class, today we have a new student. You may have met her already. Ty Lee, please come up here." She beckoned her to come. Ty Lee gulped and slowly walked over to stand beside her teacher. Sensei Koboyashi hadn't gotten very angry at Lien, but she had a malicious look when discussing her punishment and this made Ty Lee reconsider how 'nice' her teacher was.

Ty Lee stared at the rest of her class. What should she say? She had gotten distracted and wasn't able to think it completely through. She scanned the crowd. Mai smiled and gave her confidence. She noticed that the girl who had earlier looked at Azula meanly was doing the same to her. Ty Lee suppressed the urge to stick out her tongue.

"Uh…hi…I'm Ty Lee! I…" She began to contemplate what she would say next. But then Sensei Koboyashi began to push her back towards her seat.

"Thank you Ty Lee. Now, let's start the lesson for today." Ty Lee wasn't sure what to make of it, but she obeyed anyways. She assumed that her teacher just didn't want to waste anymore time. She quickly found her seat and waited anxiously for the lesson.

Suddenly, the door burst open. Sensei Koboyashi sighed, upset at another interruption. There was a wide grin on the girl's face.

"So sorry I'm late, Sensei. There was a horrid lack of quality in the kitchen this morning, and it was in my best interest to bring it to Mrs. Cho's attention." Azula flipped her hair dramatically, and looked toward the door, "Looks like Lien is back on bucket duty. Will she ever learn?"

A groan emanated from the class. Ty Lee couldn't tell if it was because of the reference to the incident that just occurred, or the fact that Azula was finally here. Sensei Koboyashi rolled her eyes at the sight of the princess. Ty Lee assumed she wasn't especially fond of her.

"Azula, you missed Ty Lee's introduction." Asuka informed.

"Oh, I already know her." She replied nonchalantly. Ty Lee wasn't sure if she should have insulted. "But thank you for informing me, Iincho." Asuka fumbled with her glasses at the expression of gratitude.

"Well, if there isn't going to be any more interruptions, I would like to start my lesson." Sensei Koboyashi announced.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Continue." Azula replied curtly, and she went to her seat. Sensei Koboyashi sighed again, and opened a new scroll. She motioned for Asuka, who got up and grabbed a box from the nearby shelf. She struggled keeping it steady, and a brush fell out of it. A brush! Ty Lee grew excited. Today she was going to learn how to write.

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**Lien wasn't going to have so much depth, but now I have a completely different backstory for her. I hope you will enjoy that! Oh, and her punishment is actually homage to Azumanga Daioh. I actually have only seen half of an episode of it XD, but in it as punishment one of the girls had to stand in the hall and hold two buckets of water in the air. I thought it would be fitting, since water is the opposite of fire, so it is repulsive to the Fire Nation. Asuka also has more depth than I was going to give her. At first, she was just going to be a nice smart meganekko (glasses wearing) type then, paying homage to Lucky Star, I decided since Fire Nation is like Japan, they would have Iinchos there too. I feel kind of bad though. This is supposed to be all about Ty Lee, but with all these new OCs I seem to be spending more attention on them than her XD. And there are going to be at least 4 more OCs coming. But most of them are teachers. The only classes I'm really going to focus on are Comp. and Lit., History, and another class that you don't know about yet XD. I read that Japan also has science class, but I didn't know how to incorporate that in an Avatar setting...so I skipped it XD. I hope you liked this, I'm starting on the next chapter...Sunday?? Hopefully sunday. But first I have to research how to "do calligraphy" XD. Please R&R**


	24. Composition and Literature

**Oissu! Now, wasn't that a quick update? I hope to do this more often XD. If I don't update this story again before Christmas, then don't expect another update for awhile. I'll be on hiatus, because I know for a fact I'm getting Professor Layton and the Curious Village for Christmas (whether as a present or from money XD) and possibly other that will demand my total attention XD. But since I beat games fast and/or get tired of them fast, don't expect the hiatus to be too long. Right now I'm going to write another chap of Saving Kyoshi, and then I'm going to finish writing and publish my Sonic oneshot/songfic I've been working on for awhile. This will give me a break from writing non-stop Avatar. Have you guys seen the castlist for the new movie? Jesse McCartney (I think I spelled his name wrong) is Zuko. I laugh. I laugh real hard. not only do I personally think he is a horrid singer, but I think he is even a more horrid actor. And how can he portray the angsty complexity that is Zuko? If he can pull it off, kudos for him! No, I wonder who is going to play Ty Lee? That will probably be awhile before we know that one XD. Well, R&R!**

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"Now, class, can anyone tell me the Four Treasures of the Study?" Sensei Koboyashi asked. Her mood had brightened immensely after Lien had left the room. Asuka held the box carefully, not wanting anything to fall out.

Several hands rose up. Ty Lee had no idea what she was talking about, and decided it was best to not even try and guess. They had obviously been over this before. Sensei Koboyashi picked a girl in the second row to answer it.

"The paper, the ink, the brush, and the inkstone." She answered proudly.

"Very good." Everyone else who had previously lifted their hand withdrew them, and waited for further instruction from their teacher, "Before today we have practiced how to handle the brush and make strokes with water. But today we are going to finally use the ink and actually write a character on the scroll you see before you."

The class seemed to hum with excitement. Or at least, Ty Lee thought it did. If she had come a day earlier, she would have had to do some boring exercises. But since she started today, she got to start to do what she really wanted to; write. Hopefully, she hadn't missed anything critical to what she was about to do. It sounded like Sensei Koboyashi was going to explain how to use the ink anyways.

"Sensei, should I pass these out now?" Asuka asked, anxious to get the box out of her way.

"Of course. Then would you mind passing out the inksticks? I'll take care of the inkstones."

"Okay…" She sighed, and began to go down the rows of desks. As she passed each one, she placed a brush on them.

Ty Lee picked up the brush that Asuka had just given her and stared at it. It wasn't anything too elegant or fancy. But in its simplicity it gave off a glow of importance. She noticed no one else had touched their brushes, so she returned hers to the desk, hoping she hadn't done anything wrong.

Soon her desk had become cluttered, a stone and a little stick also taking up space. The stone reminded her of a bowl, having a little indent in it. On the other hand, the stick looked like a piece of chalk, except it was black. Ty Lee was a bit perplexed. She had no idea what she was to do with all of these tools.

Sensei Koboyashi sent Asuka to go fetch something else, while she went on to explain more about the exercise.

"Now remember, class, we must be very precise when holding the brush. Hold it together with your first three fingers, and let your other two hang in the air." She demonstrated the position with her own brush. Ty Lee immediately attempted to copy this motion with a bit of difficulty. Her hand didn't want to stay in place. She was reminded of when she had started to eat with chopsticks when she was younger. "I don't expect you to have this perfectly by now, but try to get it as soon as possible. It is crucial for this class."

"Sensei!" A girl raised her hand. She was seated next to the girl who gave the mean looks, "I can't do it! It's too hard!" Her voice was particularly whiny.

"Kasumi, you won't be able to do it if you don't try." Sensei Koboyashi reminded, starting to show some of the exasperation she had previously revealed. The girl, Kasumi, pouted and picked up the brush in disgust.

"Not that she is smart enough to try anyways…" Azula muttered spitefully under her breath. This gained her some mean looks, mostly from the girl next to Kasumi. The princess just smiled.

Asuka came back through the door with a pitcher of water in her hands.

"I got what you wanted, Sensei." She announced, quickly placing it on her teacher's desk and returning to her own. Ty Lee got the impression that she didn't like passing out supplies. Sensei Koboyashi rose and began to pour the water into everyone's inkstones.

"While I'm pouring, I want all of you who already have water to make the ink. This will hopefully save the time we have lost." She instructed. Ty Lee watched as she filled the indent of her stone. Then the realization swept over her. She had to make the ink. How do you make ink? From berries or something, right? She didn't see any berries in the immediate area.

Frantic movement caught Ty Lee's eye. She turned. Mai was waving at her from under her desk. She had the little stick in her hand. Ty Lee picked up her stick and mouthed 'What do I do with this?'. Mai covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. Ty Lee did not think this was a laughing matter. The older girl took her stick and twirled it in her inkstone, which had no water in it yet.

Ty Lee held the stick steady, still not quite sure what she was doing. Then, ever so slowly, she stuck it in the water and twirled it a bit. She was shocked when a black substance oozed out of the stick. It swirled over to the deeper end of the indent, and as se continued to apply the stick, the darker the color became. Finally, she decided it was dark enough, and she released the stick.

Carefully, she dipped her finger in the substance and drew it out. She rubbed her finger together with her thumb. It felt like ink, and kind of smelled like ink. The only way she could tell for sure is if she tasted it, but she didn't know if this was poisonous or not. It seemed real enough, she just couldn't tell how the ink came out of that stick.

She looked at Mai and lifted her hand with the ink stains. She gave a quizzical look, asking if she did it right. Mai nodded, and once more tried not to laugh. Ty Lee frowned. She didn't understand what was so funny.

Sensei Koboyashi returned to her desk and sighed, happy to finally get to the lesson.

"Unroll your scrolls, class. Today, we are going to write the character 'hi', or 'fire'. You should be familiar with it," She smiled, "it was the first one we practiced with."

Ty Lee moaned inwardly. She couldn't just learn this quickly like the other parts of the exercise. And Sensei Koboyashi had no intent of reminding the class how to do this. She unrolled her scroll slowly. She lifted up her hand to grab the brush, only to have the scroll roll back up again. Frustrated, she unrolled it again and pressed it hard, hoping to make it stay in place. Unfortunately, it seemed she had no such luck.

When she unrolled it the third time, she noticed a pair of paperweights located inside of it. She should've known. Ty Lee placed the other paperweight on the other side of the scroll to hold it in place.

By the time she had situated her scroll, most of the class had finished their writing. Hurriedly, Ty Lee grabbed her brush, not in the fashion that Sensei Koboyashi had instructed, and plunged it into the inkstone. She hadn't anticipated the unbalanced forces. The inkstone was lifted into the air and the contents in it spilled over her scroll and desk. Ty Lee blinked as ink splattered on her face. The stone fell to the ground with a loud 'clang'. Everyone's head turned towards her. She blushed intensely.

The laughs came quickly, causing Ty Lee to cower in embarrassment. She had failed. Not only at the class but at her good first impression. No one, except Mai and Azula, would want to be around someone who was labeled a klutz. And Ty Lee wasn't usually a klutz. She didn't understand why this was happening. She closed her eyes and imagined that she wasn't there. It didn't stop the laughing.

"Here." Ty Lee looked up and saw Asuka standing in front of her. She had a damp cloth in her hand. At first Ty Lee couldn't tell what she was doing. Then she remembered the ink stains on her face. She took the cloth and wiped it off.

"Thanks…" She said quietly. Asuka nodded, understanding, and went to work cleaning up the mess Ty Lee had consequently made. "No, I need to do that! I made the mess."

"You don't know where the cleaning equipment is yet." Asuka smiled and went to grab a mop. Ty Lee followed and grabbed what looked like a sweeper.

"Now I do." She said triumphantly.

"Too bad we don't need that." She pointed to the tool in Ty Lee's hand. "It's really okay. It's not that big of a hassle." Ty Lee returned the tool and went back to her seat. She felt uneasy having someone else do her work.

The ink had spilled down her desk onto the floor, where Asuka now mopped. Ty Lee realized the cloth she had used to wipe her face was still in her hand. She could use this to clean the desk! Carefully, she lifted the scroll and moved it to the counter near her desk. She looked at it longingly. The ink on it looked like a blob. Not at all what she had expected to put on it. She wanted something pretty, a character of sorts. Instead she just made a mess and ruined a perfectly good scroll.

With the cloth she rubbed at the ink until it came off. She was eternally grateful that the ink was not permanent. Though, why would a teacher give some new students permanent ink? It was a bit unlikely. Asuka had finished mopping by that time.

Everyone was still looking at them, making Ty Lee embarrassed again. She didn't like being the center of _this _kind of attention. Asuka didn't seem to mind it.

"Well, class. There is really nothing to see over there. Why don't you pass in your scrolls to be graded? The period is almost over." Sensei Koboyashi said. The students passed the scrolls forward to the front desks. The teacher had just enough time to collect them when the gong rang. "And now it is over. Stay here until you hear the next gong as usual. We want to make sure the halls aren't completely filled with students." She got up and went towards the door, "I'm sorry that we were not so productive today. Please tell Lien to go to her next class when you leave." At that she marched out of the classroom, scrolls neatly in a bag. Ty Lee wondered why she didn't just tell Lien to go since she was already leaving, but she assumed that their teacher wanted the girl to suffer longer.

"You have a bit of a problem, huh?" Ty Lee had dazed off, and turned to see Asuka sitting in Lien's seat.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't know the basics for this class."

"…That's true…"

"I'll help you. We have a free period tomorrow after lunch. Meet me in the library. I can teach you what you need to know." Ty Lee was stunned. Asuka was being so helpful, it didn't make sense. Yet, she couldn't refuse the offer.

"Oh, thank you!" She expressed her gratitude further with a hug.

"Your welcome. Now, I have to get going." She stood up and walked over to the door. Ty Lee wondered what she was doing.

Ty Lee saw Azula and Mai motioning for her to come over, so she got up to talk to them. As she went towards them, three girls stopped in front off her, clearly with no intention of letting her go past. Ty Lee recognized the girl closest to her as the girl who was giving out the mean looks. On a closer examination, she found her to be rather pretty, with long hair and sharp crimson eyes. One of the girls next to her was Kasumi, the whiny one. Ty Lee didn't know the other girl though.

"Hello Ty Lee." The mean girl said, "On the behalf of everyone in our class, I would like to welcome you. My name is Midori."

"Oh thanks. You already know my na-" She tried to slip past the group, but the closed in tighter to the desks, leaving no chance for a running escape.

"This is Kasumi and Yun, my groupi- err…friends." She corrected herself quickly, though Ty Lee didn't know what mistake she had made.

"Hi Ty Lee." The two girls said in unison.

"Well…um…thanks, Midori, now I really must be going…" Ty Lee noticed that Midori and her friends didn't seem like a good welcoming committee, and she really wanted to go over to Azula and Mai, where she thought it would be safe. Seemed a little ironic, actually. Midori grabbed Ty Lee's hand and squeezed it. She was inflicting the pain on purpose, and she bent over to whisper in Ty Lee's ear.

"I don't know how close you are to Azula, but if you are, I'd watch your back. Wouldn't want you to get hurt or anything." She smiled menacingly. Then, as quickly as they had stopped her from passing, they made a walkway for her to go through. Midori let go of her hand, not before giving it one final squeeze. Ty Lee froze for a moment, not comprehending what had just happened. Then she ran over to Azula and Mai.

"What was that about?" Azula asked. The look in her eye suggested that she knew.

"They were just welcoming me…to the class, I guess…" Ty Lee said.

"So nice of Midori to be so warm. I may have to personally thank her for this." Ty Lee wasn't completely sure, but it seemed that Azula was being sarcastic. You couldn't really tell with Azula. Another gong rang. "Come on girls, time to go to history." Azula walked on ahead of them. Mai stayed behind.

"You okay?" She asked.

"I think so…" Ty Lee admitted, "Let's talk about this later…" She followed Azula's march with Mai behind her. As they were about to reach the door, Midori and her friends cut in front of them.

"Oh sorry, were you leaving, Princess? Perhaps we should go on ahead of you, and make sure the floor is delicate enough for your feet to step on." The three girls laughed, and walked out the door. Ty Lee was angry. She didn't know what this girl's problem was, but she had not right to speak to Azula that way. She didn't even know her!

As soon as the girls disappeared through the doorway, there was a loud crashing sound. Ty Lee sprang to the doorway, followed by the rest of the class who hadn't already left. On the ground in front of the door was Midori, Yun, and Kasumi, all flat on their backs. Their hair and clothes were soaked with water, and the floor was covered in a layer of it as well. Mortified, the three girls stood up and attempted to shake of the excess water. It didn't work, and the students laughed at their misery. Azula pushed her way to the front of the crowd. She stared at Midori in pleasure.

"Thank you for testing the floor for me, Midori. It would have been a disaster if I had come out first." And she laughed in the other girl's face. Midori just pouted, and walked off in a huff.

Ty Lee looked around and saw two buckets on the ground, overturned with some water still leaking out of them. Lien's punishment! Lien must have poured out the water when she left. Ty Lee swirled her head in search for the girl, but could not find her anywhere. She was troubled. What was up with this mysterious girl? She knew she was going to find out.

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**The style they are doing their calligraphy with is East Asian, and I got all my information from the Four Friends of the Study to the hand position from Wikipedia, so it may have some faults. They are holding the brush in a chinese style, because that's how Piando does in Sokka's Master and just because it is more challenging than the Japanese (which is how english people hold pencils). They do use Kanji in this though, since Kanji is Japan words and Chinese characters, and almost all the writing in Avatar is Chinese but the Fire Nation is based off of Japan. So it works out XD. I forgot to thank Fire Lord Lionheart for his other name suggestions that I used in this chapter: Midori, Kasumi, and Yun. I know some of you are getting overloaded with OC's, but hear me out on this; There are only going to be two more of importance. And one of them is a teacher. Kasumi and Yun are just side characters that need names, and are really not characters that will hopefully overload you. Also, not all the OCs are going to stay completely in the story. So bear with it, okay? Its hard for me too. I hope to get my 100th review this chapter. I'm on 96 or 97, and I'm still anticipating some late ones for the last chapter. I really love reviews, and the 100 mark has been a goal for me for awhile. I'm so close now, I can taste it! So please review!! Midori is a funny character, and if you can't tell she is like the popular girl in the school; actually, both her and her groupies-er friends (lol) are just stereotrypical mean grils at school. But I think all schools need that. Especially since a rivalry has sparked between Midori and Azula's groups. Who shall prevail!? You'll have to read and see. Thanks for reading this XD**


	25. The Mystery

**YAY!!! I have over 100 reviews!!! So this chapter is dedicated to Kristoshi Warrior, who gave the 100th review! GO KRISTOSHI!! Anywho, sorry that this is a little late, I kinda got lazy after finishing the next chappy of Saving Kyoshi (WHICH SHOULD BE UP, BUT MY BETA IS REALLY SLOW!!!). For Christmas, I got a drawing tablet, which allows me to draw on the computer instead of having to scan in pcitures and stuff...I also got a bamboo plant named Take-tan and the game Professor Layton and the Curious Village (which took me 9.6 hours to complete, and thus did not hinder me one bit...). I got other stuff too, but those are the main stuff. The next chapter should be up soon, but I'm entering a contest on Youtube which deadline is soon, do I have to do that first. Then it is nonstop writing. seriously. I'm planning out all the next chapters, and only now am I realizing that this is almost over. maybe 20 chapters left. It kinda makes me sad. I've been with you guys for such a long time with this story, and it's probably going to be over this year...*sniff* oh well, it had to come eventually. I hope you like this chapter R&R**

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Ty Lee slumped out of her history class. Only the second day and she was already behind on her homework. Sensei Shiraishi had given her the lecture of a lifetime. She felt she had the right to show a slightly gloomy disposition because of this. And yet she had something hopeful to look forward to. Lunch was next, and afterwards their break. Then she would meet Asuka in the library.

"Don't feel too bad." Azula said as they walked down the hall, "I forget to do my homework all the time."

"Then why doesn't Sensei Shiraishi gripe on you?" Ty Lee asked.

"I don't know." The princess shrugged, "Maybe she likes me more than you." Ty Lee knew better and she knew that Azula knew better as well. Their teacher was afraid of punishing the royal student.

"She didn't give so much yesterday. Why didn't you finish it?" Mai asked.

"Well…I've never had to do homework before. I was a little overwhelmed." She rubbed the back of her neck as she explained, "But I should do better tonight."

"If you have any trouble, just ask me." The older girl replied. Ty Lee nodded in gratitude. They walked silently for a few moments, making their way to the cafeteria. They were taking a fairly steady pace, allowing many students to pass in front of them.

"Food better be good today." Azula growled, breaking the silence. Ty Lee giggled.

"Azula, does any food ever reach your standard?" She asked playfully.

"Maybe if I transferred all my personal chefs from home…" She placed her finger on her lips, as if she was considering it. Of course, knowing her she probably was really considering it.

The cafeteria loomed before them, and they entered. Ty Lee was greeted with the smell of roasting meat. Her stomach growled. She hoped it was turkey chicken. Oh, how she loved turkey chicken. The sweet, savory taste…

"Hey, Ty Lee, are you listening?" Azula waved her hand in front of the younger girl's face. Ty Lee blinked in surprise.

"Uh…no, sorry…" She blushed.

"Well, I said that I'm going to talk to the chef to see if we can have some servants bring out our food to our table. The line is _atrocious_ today." With that comment, she pointed dramatically at the line of students waiting to get their food. Ty Lee frowned. She would love to surpass the line and get her food earlier, but it seemed wrong. She was about to voice her opinion on the matter when Azula walked past them to the door that led to the chef's kitchen.

Ty Lee sighed. Azula never considered being polite in any situation.

"We better sit down." Mai said. "No use of standing if the food's coming to us…" Ty Lee followed her lead and they took their seats at their table.

"Oh, Mai," Ty Lee exclaimed as she remembered, "I meant to ask you about something yesterday!"

"Okay…what?"

"Why…uh…why is Midori so mean?" She sunk a little in her seat as the words came out. Ty Lee didn't want Midori to hear her, even though the girl was two tables away.

"So she did do something to you." Mai said in realization. "She didn't hurt you, did she?" Her voice deepened into a growl.

"Oh, no she didn't do anything like that!" Ty Lee replied in a half-lie. The fact was that she didn't consider Midori squeezing her hand actually _hurting _her. Mai would have, though. She always looked for some kind of excuse.

"That's good," Mai leaned back a bit.

"She just kinda threatened me…I guess…she said that I should watch myself if I am with Azula. Did Azula do anything to her?"

"…Not exactly. It's a little complicated."

"So what happened?"

"Well…" Mai looked up to the ceiling as if she was retracing her steps to the exact moment, "Some of this is speculation, but before we got here it seems that Midori was the most popular kid in the academy. She also apparently was a fan of Azula's. When we first enrolled here, she seemed fine with Azula being higher than her. She actually tried to join her as a 'groupie'."

"Groupie?" Ty Lee had never heard the word before.

"That's exactly what she said. But Azula just ignored her. Finally, Midori couldn't take it any longer and asked why she couldn't be her…'groupie'…" Mai half-shuddered, "That word freaks me out…anyways, Azula's response was that she only had one more spot left, and it was already taken by you."

"…So…this is my fault…." She muttered.

"No, if anything it is both of their faults, so we should just let them fight it out themselves, okay?" Mai had a look in her eye that told Ty Lee she would enforce this suggestion she gave.

"Okay." Ty Lee nodded as she rose herself in her chair.

"Right here is where we sit." Azula pointed right in front of Ty Lee. Her brows furrowed. She hadn't seen Azula walk over here. But there she was, with three servants following her, all with plates in their hands. Steam was pouring off the dishes. Ty Lee's mouth watered.

The servants laid the plates in front of the girls as Azula sat down. They stood there solemnly for awhile until the princess waved her hand, dismissing them. Bowing, they walked back into the kitchen.

Ty Lee stared at the meal in front of her. She wasn't completely sure what it was. There was definitely rice, but she wasn't sure what was on top of it. Some kind of meat, but it was completely engulfed in a thick sauce. It sure smelled good, but she still felt wary. She looked and saw her friends already eating.

In order to not be singles out, she put a bite into her mouth.

"What is this!?" She exclaimed in wonder.

"Uh…curry." Azula responded nonchalantly.

"It's delicious!" She then proceeded to consume the entire plate, way before the others had. They looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Are you okay?" Mai asked, "You aren't usually this excited about…food."

"Sorry, I'm just a little anxious. I'm going to meet Asuka in the library today."

"Oh, you have a little study-buddy? How quaint." Ty Lee wasn't sure if Azula was being sarcastic or not. "Well, she's probably waiting for you, you scurry off now."

"Azula, lunch isn't even over yet." Mai noted.

"But Asuka practically eats lunch in the library. She'll be there now, I know it. You could surprise her by being early." There was a mischievous look in her eyes. That along with her tone made Ty Lee think she was trying to get rid of her. But at the same time, she wouldn't mind going early.

"Okay then, I will." She stood up with a smile and almost cartwheeled to the exit.

Once the younger girl was out of earshot, Azula closed in on Mai. There was a look of gravity on her face.

"Now that she's gone, I need to tell you something important. And Ty Lee must never, _ever_ hear of it from you. It's for her own good. She'll find out on her own eventually. It's about…"

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The halls were quiet. She should've known that; everyone was eating. She had never actually been to the library before, so she stopped in to Mrs. Cho's office to ask for directions. The director didn't seem amused. But she still told her what she needed, and Ty Lee got out of that room as quickly as she could.

Before she knew it, the doors to the library loomed before her. She didn't know what she hadn't noticed them before. They were far wider than any other door, except for the ones to the cafeteria. Slowly, she creaked one of them open, hopefully not making too much noise. She had heard that the library people didn't like that.

She crept inside, taking in all the sights. In front of her was what seemed to be everlasting shelves of scrolls. It overwhelmed her to the point of dizziness. She put a hand on the door to stable herself. It was exceptionally quiet, so she was glad that the door hadn't made a very large sound.

There didn't seem to be anyone there as she slowly maneuvered the many shelves. She would've called out to check, but she was afraid that she would get in trouble by whoever was there. Maybe it was some mean old lady who hit people with a stick. That would not be pleasant at all.

Ty Lee had almost given up all hope when the sounds of hushed whispers caught her ear. She tiptoed in the direction, not daring to make the floorboards creak. As she got closer, she could make out what was being said.

"…maybe during the Fire Days Festival. Everyone will be too concerned to notice."

"I don't know…the whole thing sounds risky to me."

"But is it right?"

"What?"

"You know what I mean, Asuka."

Ty Lee froze. She couldn't tell who was talking from the voices, since they were muffled, but she clearly heard the first voice say the name 'Asuka'. That meant one of the speakers was her. But who was the other?

Ty Lee realized that the conversation was taking place on the other side of the shelves adjacent to herself. She slipped over and laid her ear on the wood. No good, only made it more muffled. Next to her was a ladder that had wheels on the bottom to move from one side of the shelf to another. Carefully, she climbed up two rungs and found that there was a small hole in the back of one of the dividers of the shelf. Too small to look through, but good for listening through. She pressed her ear against it.

"I guess it is for the best."

Ty Lee suddenly felt the ladder begin to ease a little to the right. She held in a gasp, and tried to regain stability. It didn't work, and the ladder swung full speed to the other side of the shelf. She wasn't able to hold on, and she felt herself falling.

"Exactly. I didn't want it to come to this, but it has to be done. I will finally be able to-" The voice was interrupted by Ty Lee hitting the floor. She moaned a little and rubbed her arm. She didn't try to be quiet. It was quite apparent that they had heard.

A figure stepped around the shelf and Ty Lee found herself looking up at Lien. Her eyes flashed, and as quickly as she was there she was gone. She walked without missing a beat to the library doors and slammed them shut. Ty Lee felt like she had been slapped. But she knew it was her fault. She should've minded her own business and not have eavesdropped.

Asuka filled the place where Lien had been.

"Ty Lee? You're early. Are you hurt?" She helped the girl to her feet. Asuka seemed awfully cheery compared to the conversation Ty Lee had just heard and Lien's reaction.

"Is Lien okay? I'm sorry; I shouldn't have listened in on…" Ty Lee started to explain, which only gave her a confused look from Asuka.

"Lien? Why would you ask about her? She wasn't here, and we weren't talking about anything." She had a large fake smile plastered on her face. Ty Lee was bewildered. Lien was just there. She saw her! She heard the conversation! How could Asuka just deny what had happened?

"But-"

"Sh." Asuka put her finger to her mouth, "Stop talking nonsense and lets start the lesson."

She left Ty Lee standing there as she walked over to a neighboring table and began to set up some blank scrolls. Ty Lee sighed. Things were just getting stranger and stranger around here, and she didn't know if she wanted to find out why.

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**This whole thing is kinda rushed, so I apologize. But I had to fit a lot of info in at once, and I wanted to update soon, so there XD I kinda introduce two mysteries here. One will be revealed within 5 chapters. The other may take longer...I'd like to hear your opinions on it and your predictions. Shiraishi is a nod to Mink Shiraishi in the manga Cyber Idol Mink and Minoru Shiraishi (both the voice actor and th echaracter he plays in Lucky Star). She may actually come in later, but she is not a main character. I have a few more big things happening in the story, and a lot of it has to happen soon because in the time they are in , Zuko will have his Agni Kai with his father in a year, and some things need to happen before that...Also, The Fire Days Festival is from The Deserter. The next chapter is coming soon!**


	26. The Signups

**Hey, sorry this took a bit longer than I thought...and its a filler, so its not much , sorry. But I had to have a transistion chapter to introduce some elements that will come into play next. I'm going to write the next chapter of Saving Kyoshi next, even though my BETA hasn't updated the last one(hint hint). I just want to be ready when she finishes beta-ing so I can send her the next one. I'm trying to write as quickly as possible, but I get distracted, or I need to enter a contest that has a deadline, or have to audition for a fanime that has a deadline. I ah ve several different live, but I will have you know I put most of my energy into my Fanfiction life. Ask zutarafan4. So here you go, a cute filler. Some of it is a bit rushed, but I really wanted to update...the next one will be better, I promise!!**

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"Uh…I'm sorry to disturb you…" Ty Lee turned from her homework to see Asuka standing in the doorway with her little gong in one hand and a scroll in another, "But I have an announcement that everyone needs to hear..."

"So, Mrs. Cho sent you to everyone's room?" Azula asked as she lay in her bed. Her arms were crossed and behind her head, propping herself up. "I think we get the gist of this, just announce your announcement, Iincho." The princess rolled her eyes and shifted her position to suit her comforts. Mai shook her head and nodded for Asuka to continue.

"Well, next week we are going to have a group of combat teachers coming to our school to do lessons for one day. But before that happens, we need you to specify which teacher you want to learn from."

"But what if we don't _need_ anymore combat training?" Asuka ignored Azula's question and carried on.

"There will be bending instructors, weapons instructors…a lot of instructors…" She set down the scroll on the table next to the door and spread it out. "Here is the list. Put your name next to the instructor that you want. Keep in mind, though, that if someone is already popular you may not make it into that lesson." She motioned for them to come over. Ty Lee stood up, brush already in her hand from her homework. The others did the same.

She stared at the list. With only a limited knowledge of calligraphy, Ty Lee could only read certain characters which amounted to a few words. The mush of different syllables was nonsense in her eyes. She moved out of the way to allow the others to sign first. Surely Mai or Asuka would read it to her in a moment, but she didn't want to hinder her friends who could make their decision quickly.

"Do we have to do this?" She asked. She didn't think she wanted to learn how to fight. And if it wasn't obligatory then she didn't have to make a decision. While she was unaware, Azula grabbed the brush from her hand and scribbled her name down on the scroll. She didn't care; it wasn't like she could write her name down at the moment anyways. Azula passed it on to Mai, who wrote down her name too. Apparently they wanted to go to combat class.

"Well…" Asuka fumbled with her glasses and looked around to make sure no one else was listening, "You didn't hear this from me, but I'm pretty certain that this is an experiment of sorts. Mrs. Cho has always wanted a combat class, but she wants to see which ones would be most popular. The teachers that more people go to are the ones that are going to be hired."

"So it's mandatory…" She frowned. "Hey, Mai, will you read this to me?"

"Oh that's right, you haven't learned all of the characters yet, have you?" Mai handed Ty Lee the brush who took it gingerly.

"Well, of course not, silly! I've only had three classes!" She giggled.

"But you've learned a lot quickly." Asuka added. Azula had returned to her bed, lounging. She apparently didn't care about Ty Lee's teacher. But it didn't mind her. Much.

"Let's see…I don't think you'll need a bending teacher…" She gave a half-smile, and started to read off some names of weapons, "Bo staff, ninjaken, nunchaku, sai swords, katana, broadswords, bow and arrows…" She continued for about a minute, all of the weapon's names completely going over Ty Lee's head. She couldn't tell which one sounded the easiest to do. She knew that the combat classes would be optional if they were accepted, just like some other elective classes at the school. So she could just pick something easy that she would only have to do once, and then she would be done with it. But it wasn't easy choosing.

"Uh…Mai?" She asked, "Are the only kinds of teachers bending ones and weapon specialists?" Mai looked up from the list.

"I think so…" She ran her finger down the names and stopped, "Yeah, there is a whole section of hand-to-hand combat teachers. You want one of those?"

"I guess…" So, once more, Mai started to name off words that meant absolutely nothing to Ty Lee. She stood there blankly, trying to figure out how she would decide. If she chose someone who later gained too many students, she may get booted out of the class. So, should she pick someone that had no names so far? That didn't sound too bad. And then, maybe since she signed up, others would join too. Or there was the chance that she would be the only one…

Oh well, that was a chance she was going to have to take.

There weren't many hand-to-hand combat teachers that had no names signed up. Realizing that she would soon have another deciding problem, she quickly jabbed her finger next to the one whose name was the shortest.

"There! I pick this one!" She exclaimed triumphantly. Both Mai and Asuka looked at her incredulously.

"Ty Lee, do you even know what you picked?" Mai asked with one brow raised.

"Uh…" She turned away, "…not really…but I'm fine with whatever it is…"

"Okay then…" Mai still looked confused, but nevertheless brushed aside Ty Lee's finger to read her choice, "The teacher's name is Ling…no family name associated with her…the fighting style is 'Dim Mak'. I don't know what that is, though…"

"I think I've heard of it." Asuka inputted, "It has something to do with pressure points."

"What's that?" Ty Lee asked. Azula sighed from her bed.

"Well…um…" She thought about it for a second "I…I guess you will learn about it next week, right?"

"Is it something bad?"

"No, not at all." She raised her hands up and waved them to reassure her, "I just really don't know that much about pressure points, that's all."

"That's good." Ty Lee looked back at the list and slowly wrote out her name next to 'Ling'. She made sure the characters were neat and legible, "There, how does that look, Asuka?"

"Very nice, Ty Lee. You've definitely improved." Ty Lee beamed from the praise.

"Hey, Asuka...I'm sorry about the other day with Lien..." Ty Lee tried to apologize.

"What are you talking about? You didn't do anything with Lien the other day." Asuka fumbled with her glasses again. A nervous habit, it seemed. But why was she nervous? "Well, now that I have your signatures, I must be leaving…and going to all the other rooms…" She gave a look of disgust. "Thank you." She quickly grabbed the scroll by one end, so she wouldn't smear the newly applied ink, and exited the room.

"Well, that was fun, wasn't it?" Azula asked sarcastically.

"Azula, you shouldn't be so mean to Asuka." Ty Lee said in rebuking tone, "She's my friend. And besides, she won't think too highly of you if you keep acting that way."

"What do I care of what someone thinks of me? It's not like one person can do anything important because they don't like what I do." Azula turned her face to the wall, signaling that the conversation was over. Ty Lee sighed inwardly and sat down to finish her homework.

It was a new character today. 'Wa'. It was very important though, since it is used in the word 'I'. Ty Lee observed it intently, memorizing every line and curve. Then she carefully attempted to reproduce it on her own scroll. It was a little shaky, which was probably a result of her hand moving in fear of making a mistake. But she knew it would receive a passing grade from Sensei Koboyashi.

Suddenly, the door across from her bed shot open, and a wind blew through the room. Azula instantly shot up when the current died down. Ty Lee looked down in disappointment. The wind had stirred up the ink and had turned her 'Wa' into a blob. Oh well. She would just have to start over.

"What was that?" Mai asked in a bored tone. Ty Lee was shocked. It was as if something like this happened everyday for the older girl.

"Some wind blew open the door to the balcony." Azula explained, "Good thing too. Now I can tell Ms. Cho that we don't need to get the hinges fixed."

"Wait, a balcony?" Ty Lee was bewildered. "We have a balcony?"

"Uh…yeah…you didn't know?"

"The door was stuck when I tried to open it before." Ty Lee admitted. "Can I go on it?"

"Hey, it's our room, so isn't it _our_ balcony?" Azula smiled, for once not a fake one, "Of course you can." That was odd. Azula never really gave a real smile. But she had been acting a bit weird. Mai had been too.

Ty Lee excitedly dashed out the door. It was a simple balcony; nothing to get too excited about. But it was the view that counted. She gasped as she looked over the edge. There was a valley that lay right in front of her, full of beautiful flowers. Trees grew up to the side of the balcony, and she could even touch its branches. They must be old. She knew that the taller they were, the older they were. There was an air of relief and relaxation. She knew that this was going to be her new sanctuary.

Mai had walked out and stood next to her.

"Pretty nice, huh?" She said smiling. Ty Lee nodded enthusiastically.

"Hey, what's that?" She pointed off to the end of the valley, where a small building could be made out.

"The Royal Fire Academy for Boys, of course." Mai replied.

"They have a boy's school too?"

"Yeah, you didn't know?"

"Why don't we just go together in one school instead of having two?"

"Well…uh…" Mai blushed, "That's complicated. You'll figure it out when you're older."

"Oh…" Ty Lee tried not to pout. She always had to wait to understand things. "…Wait, is it because a girl and a boy might fall in love, and then get distracted from school?"

"Uh…yeah, that's it exactly!" Ty Lee didn't notice Mai roll her eyes.

"Well, that's a stupid reason."

"But there is the Golden Dragon Dance in spring. That's the only time when we are allowed to see the boys."

"What would happen if you saw someone before that?"

"Hm…" She thought this over, "I guess they would suspend you for awhile."

"That's mean."

"Well, not everything is fair, Ty Lee." She smiled, then her face turned grave, "Hey, you know if you ever feel sad and need to talk to someone, you can always come to me, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Mai was acting weird again. Ty Lee didn't feel sad, and she didn't intend to.

"Oh…I just wanted to make sure you knew that…you've always been there for me…so…yeah," She looked a bit embarrassed. Ty Lee decided she should make her feel better.

"Thank you, Mai. You're my best friend."

"You're mine too, Ty Lee…" And then, not even the flowers matched the beauty of the look on Mai's face.

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**I kinda just wrote some sappy thing to end it off XD The balcony and the dance will come into play later, as well as Mai and Azula's behavior. And Asuka's for that matter. I wrote the closest thing to a suggestive theme this chappy XD I'm really against sexuality in stories, since I 'm a Christian, but I really couldn't give another reason for why there was a seperate school for girl's and boy's. Ty Lee sums up the innocent response though XD That had to be my favorite part. Though, I did have a few suggestive things with Miyako and Kei about the baby, since Ty Lee doesn't know about that either XD Well, hope you enjoyed it. Please Review (I had a bit of a let-down with the reviews last time XD Not that you have to, but it really makes my day, and that's the only reason I really write anymore). Bye!**


	27. The Lesson

**Sorry!!! I've been animating and writing fanfiction for TFA (Transformers animated, which is currently airing new episodes and piquing my creative writing stuff) and been traveling, so updating has been hard. I must say that I worked pretty hard on this though. I am starting on the next Saving Kyoshi and then will start on another Oneshot. My beta still hasn't updated the last SK chapter, so I have time for that and all. One of the new characters is introduced in this chapter, but she won't stay for long, though her impact will be long lived. There is only one more long OC, and he won't show up for...two more chapters, so bear with me. I'm about to enter the home stretch of this story. After about...five chapters we'll be real near the end. It saddens me so, but it also tells me how much I have accomplished. I hope you have enjoyed it so far! Please R&R!!! You know how I love reviews, I won't lie!**

"Hurry up Ty Lee! We're going to be late!" The princess called in her usual manner. She waved her hand impatiently and looked like she was about to stomp her foot in exasperation. But Ty Lee just smiled at her antics. Just because she wasn't excited about the demonstration classes today didn't mean anyone else wasn't. Even Mai seemed a bit motivated. That was rare indeed.

"Coming Azula!" She replied as she ran to catch up with them. "I've never been to the gymnasium before. Is it really big?"

"You've asked us about this already." Azula rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Ty Lee, it is big. Big enough to hold all the teachers and the students and have enough room to move around." Mai explained. Ty Lee felt a bit better. Perhaps seeing the gymnasium would make this day more exciting for her. Or maybe she would actually enjoy the classes. She doubted it. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know how to fight.

"Well here we are," Azula said, pointing ahead of her, not before adding an overdramatic, "…finally." Ty Lee's eyes widened as they walked through the large doors. Mai had been right. It _was_ big. It reminded her of a giant open courtyard, except it had a floor and walls and a ceiling. Most of the students had already arrived and they flocked in groups around their instructors. Mai read a notice on the wall.

"Ty Lee, it says your instructor, 'Ling', is located in that corner over there," Mai gestured to the right, "And if you can't find her you can-"

"I'm sure Ty Lee will be fine on her own." Azula interrupted, "Now, shoo! Go learn and have fun." Mai sighed and smiled. Ty Lee didn't know why she was acting so protective lately. Azula was nicer too.

"Okay then, see you later." Ty Lee replied with a hint of sadness. She really didn't want to be taught without her friends. She waved good-bye and turned. There was a mass of students in front of her. Meandering through the crowd, she arrived at the right corner.

She looked around. It didn't seem that anyone was there. Not even a student was very close-by, the nearest one being about 30 paces away. Where could her mysterious teacher 'Ling' be? Ty Lee sat down, deciding to make herself comfortable. Perhaps 'Ling' was late. If she was late then maybe she was somewhat of a lazy person. Ty Lee frowned. Or maybe she had a lot of children and had to feed them all before she arrived. That sounded better.

"Excuse me." A voice called from behind her. She twirled around and found herself standing in front of a young woman. "Are you Ty Lee? The one with the…interesting penmanship?"

Ty Lee bit her lip for two reasons; one, this lady had obviously insulted her writing skills. Two, she looked strikingly like her mother.

The same silky hair. Soft lips. Firm hands. The only difference was her hair was curly and her eyes were bright and crimson, opposing her mother's gentle ones. She resisted the urge to run up and hug her, to kiss her cheek and tell her how much she missed her.

"Y-yes, ma'am, that's me." She replied quietly.

"Well, I'm Ling. And today you have the pleasure of my undivided attention in the arts of Dim Mak. Not that you may see it as a pleasure but that is beyond my control…unfortunately." She huffed.

"Undivided…wait, so I was the only one who signed up for this class?" She regretted later not adding a polite 'ma'am' at the end of the sentence.

"It seems so. But don't say it like it's a bad thing. You got me paid. Without you, I would have to scrounge around for a few copper pieces…" She looked like she was about to rant, but caught herself, "Anyways, you don't want to hear boring stuff like that, do you? I may not look it, but I was a kid once, and I never liked it when adults talked about boring stuff."

"But you aren't very old at all!" Ty Lee insisted.

"Sucking up to the teacher already it seems," She smirked, "Cute."

"But I-" Ling raised her hand, telling her to shut it. Ty Lee's face burned in anger. This definitely was not her mother.

"Do you want to learn Dim Mak or not?" She laid it out plainly.

"Uh…I really don't know what it is, ma'am…" She admitted.

"It's always a treat when you get to teach children." Ling sighed, "Okay, look, kid. Apparently there is some kind of nerve system in your body. If you hit certain points you can block off the nerves from your brain, and then you can't move that part of your body, got it?" She didn't get it. Her explanation was so vague and lacking detail that it went completely over her head. But instead of having her go over it again, Ty Lee nodded.

"Yes ma'am."

"Okay, now let's set up some rules here. Teachers give out rules right? First off, stop calling me 'ma'am'. It makes me feel older than old." Ty Lee tried to interject but was cut off, "Second, don't suck up, okay? It'll make it easier for both of us. Third, don't…" She winced a bit, "…don't touch me. And don't ask why. It's-It's not important. So don't, okay?" Ty Lee nodded once more, a bit more confused. She had never quite seen an adult act like this. Her desperate tone made Ty Lee curious, but it also told her not to ask. But no physical contact? Wasn't this supposed to be hand-to-hand combat?

"Excuse me for sounding rude, but if I'm not supposed to touch you…how will I learn?"

"Aw, I completely forgot about Karada!" She turned and almost ran off, but then remembered her baggage, "Hey, kid, I gotta go get something important for class today, okay? So you just sit here and…uh…stretch! Stretching is important for muscles, so do it. I'll be back in a few." Ty Lee watched as she ran out of the auditorium, carefully avoiding any contact with the other students or teachers.

She wasn't quite sure what to make of Ling. She didn't seem to respect Ty Lee at all. The way she acted, she might as well not respect anyone. And she acted…strange.

But she didn't feel like giving her teacher a hard time, although she was already in a rather foul mood for being forced to come to these lessons. Besides, as Ling had pointed out, stretching was good for the muscles, and Ty Lee hadn't used them much for a while. Her father had prohibited any physical exercise while she was under his supervision. Not that she couldn't sneak it in every now and then, but it still wasn't the same. It had felt illegal at the time.

Ty Lee sat back down and began simple stretches. Touching her toes. Touching her toes while her legs were spread to the side. Touching her toes when they were behind her back. All of the usual stuff. Then she decided to get tricky.

During her secret sessions at home, she had learned that she could flex her body even more than she had previously thought. And Kei had praised her over and over again for her exceptional flexibility. She had been able to turn her legs into all sorts of strange knots and contortions. But she had wondered if she could get her legs to touch the back of her head. She had heard it was possible, but never fully thought she could do it herself. Well, it was a good a time to try as ever.

Slowly, she laid herself out so she supported her weight on her arms and elbows. Then came the tricky part. Though her flexibility was great, the absence of practice still made it difficult. Small pains flew through her legs and she cringed. Nevertheless, she continued to push them toward her head. She wouldn't be satisfied until she felt her hair.

Aha! There it was! She beamed proudly, though no one was there to truly notice her accomplishment. Everyone else was paying attention to their instructors. And Ling was going to get her Kuru…Kuro…whatever she said it was.

"What are you doing!?" Or maybe she wasn't. Ty Lee looked up to see Ling standing over her, her eyes wide in fear, "T-That's dangerous! You could get stuck in that position! Your legs could fall off! I didn't mean to do this…" She looked bewildered, as if she had left for two seconds and already she was in a mess.

"But ma'am, it doesn't hurt. And besides…"

"Don't call me ma'am!!" She shouted in frustration. Ling placed her fingers on her temples and sighed. "Just untangle yourself and stand up. I have someone for you to meet."

Ty Lee obeyed and looked around for the mysterious person to whom she was about to be introduced. All she saw was a worn-out cloth dummy sitting on a metal stand.

"But there is no one here…"

"Kid, this is Karada. He's my training dummy and personal friend." She pointed to the mannequin. "So be nice to him, okay?"

"Yes ma- uh…" She thought around for the name of a fighting teacher, "Sifu Ling." Ling pondered over this title but said nothing.

"Now look, Dim Mak, as I have already pointed out, is about nerves. If you hit a nerve here," She turned and quickly jabbed Karada's shoulder, "your opponent's arm will be paralyzed for about five minutes. If you hit it harder or with more force, it could be out for longer. The longest I've gotten was a few days…" She mused.

"Excuse me Sifu Ling!" Ty Lee's hand shot up in the air, "Why are there little targets on Karada?"

"For once you ask something that is useful." A real smile appeared on Ling's lips, "All of these targets represent a pressure point on a person's body where you can block the nerve. Not all of them are shown on Karada, though."

"Why not?"

"They're fatal." The coldness in her voice sent chills up Ty Lee's spine. She was dealing with something serious here.

"So how do I…?"

"Stand here next to Karada," She waited until Ty Lee arrived, "Stretch out your legs so that they are about…say, an arm's length apart. That's the easy part. Good, you got it. Now it's tricky. Dim Mak is also about your hands and arms. If you hit wrong your opponent could just receive a small bruise or minor bump. Nothing that would win you a fight. When you aren't hitting, you should keep your arms slightly bent, like this." She demonstrated. "Got it so far?"

"Yes, Sifu Ling!" She replied enthusiastically. This was becoming more fun than she thought.

"Now, keep your hands like mine, see? Your pointer and middle finger should be slightly extended. This is the usual stance you'll want, since this makes it easier to hit smaller points. When hitting larger points, however, it is acceptable to simply punch as hard as you can. Now, hit Karada on one of his points."

Her stomach lurched. This was where the fun stopped. She didn't really want to hit anyone, or thing in the matter. Ty Lee bit her lip and pushed her hand forward slightly, brushing the stomach of the dummy.

"I-I'm sorry…"

"Don't be sorry." She obviously meant this to be comforting, but it came out gruff and impatient, "It's a dummy. It won't hurt you."

"But what if I hurt it?" This caused laughter from her teacher.

"Look, kid, I've hit this thing so many times its falling apart. I don't think your little hands will hurt it too much." Ty Lee felt warmth from her. It was familiar. Like her mother…

Not hesitating this time, she punched the dummy, putting her weight into it. At her collision, Karada was pushed backwards and flew back in reverberation.

"I-I did it!" She exclaimed.

"You sure did. A bit too hard, but it was effective." Ty Lee beamed. Ling turned and looked away.

Her mother. Why did she remind her of her mother? Perhaps they were related somehow. Her sister? Her cousin? Ty Lee was not aware of her mother having any siblings, but it was possible.

"Excuse me, Sifu Ling, but do you know someone named Sak-" Ty Lee looked in horror. She had acted on impulse and took a hold of Ling's arm. Ling looked horrified as well. She had broken the most important of the three simple rules she had given her.

Suddenly, the room vanished. In its place was an ongoing field with a single cherry tree standing in the middle. Ty Lee was stunned and looked to see Ling's reaction. Only then was she even more afraid. The young woman's eyes were glassy and unseeing, as if she wasn't there. What had she done?

Her blood ran cold as she saw the cherry tree distort and a figure appear in its trunk. It couldn't be…It couldn't be!

"Mama!" She cried out. She was standing in front of her, her sickly persona completely absent. Ty Lee tried to run to her, but her hand was locked around Ling's arm. She tried to wrench free, but it was no use.

To her delight, he mother was walking towards her. Her smile was comforting and she lifted out her hand. A single finger touched Ty Lee's forehead.

Instantly, an array of colors burst in front of Ty Lee. She screamed in agony and tried to close her eyes. What was happening?

"It's alright Ty Lee. It's alright." Her mother reassured. Ty Lee felt faint, and let the black enfold her.

_It's alright, Ty Lee. _

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**Very interesting developments. VERY interesting. This is kinda a two-part chapter cliffhanger thing. All shall be revealed in the next chapter. You, however, can guess all you want. You will probably get close, but I did put a twist that you won't probably catch. I forgot, in the last chapter I made a slight reference to the Teengage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the weapons section, but you probably caught that XDDD Karada means 'body'. **

**Ling and Asuka so far are my favorite OC's to write. I haven't written much Lien, but Ithink I will enjoy her a bit later. Ling is complicated, which develops even more int eh next chapter. She is very sarcastic and likes asking questions to make her point (Okay? See? Got it?). She tries to be nice, but she comes from a bad background. I don't think I'm actually going to write this diddy in, so I mightas well tell you. If you couldn't tell, she's the kind who lives from paycheck to paycheck (or whatvever they get in the Avatar world) so you can assume she grew up in poverty or the 'bad' part of town.**

**Well, I hope to update as soon as I finish my oneshot. Please tell me what you think!**

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	28. The Explanation

**YAY! A quick update!!! This chap explains a LOT. a LOT!!!!! Its okay, I've written better, but I had to get this done. I need to write more TFA oneshots while the third season is still going on. Also, I'm hooked on a new anime called K-ON! but I've watched all the episodes that have aired so far. The next TFA and K-ON! episode airs SATURDAY!!! HAPPY ME! Well, PLEASE REVIEW!!!**

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Ty Lee's head felt funny. Not hurting necessarily, just heavy and kind of tickly. Her eyes might have well have been glued shut. She could hear voices, and she shuffled her body a bit. She was in a bed.

"She's moving!" A familiar voice called, "Kid, hey kid, you okay?" It was Ling.

"Mm-hm." She responded simply. Slowly, she opened her eyes. She immediately regretted it. A blast of light and color infiltrated her sight. She lifted her hand to cover her eyes and moaned, "Ow…"

Once her eyes adjusted she looked around. She must be in the infirmary. It was all white with barely any furniture. She had seen the infirmary from the outside, but never been in it. She had never been hurt before. And now…What had happened exactly? She remembered the scene clearly, but none of it made sense.

"Hello, sweetie. Let me check your temperature. You had a nasty fever when your teacher brought you here." A lady she recognized as the school nurse said as she walked over to her. Ty Lee stared in shock. The woman looked completely normal. Absolutely normal. But surrounding her body was a warm glow of light orange.

"You…you…" She pointed her finger at the nurse, at a loss for words. Ling stood behind her, and instantly gave her a serious look that told her to shut her mouth. She obeyed and let the nurse check her temperature.

This seemed oddly familiar. She remembered seeing colors before. Yes, she gained the ability when she first went to the swamp. But how had she lost it? She obviously hadn't missed it much. Now watching the colors dance off Ling's skin she began to feel nauseous.

"Well, if she's all good, I'd like to have a few moments alone with her. We didn't get to completely finish our lesson yesterday, and I want to talk her through a few basics." Ling said to the nurse. Yesterday!? How long had she been out?

"Her temperature is normal again, so I think that should be fine. Come and get me if you need anything." And with that the nurse left. Ling sighed and looked up to Ty Lee.

"You really okay?" She asked.

"I'm not sure…what happened? Why can I…why can I see the colors again?"

"That's what I thought. You already had the gift beforehand." She put her finger to her mouth, "I'm not a resident expert on this, but I'll tell you what I think happened. You can see…colors you say? Do they change depending on ones mood?" Ty Lee nodded vigorously, "That's two rights for me. Okay, well…I'm kinda like that too. See one day I went to the…uh…" She looked around for the right word.

"The swamp!? You went to the swamp!?" She called excitedly. Ling cringed at her loudness, the turned to see if anyone was near their room.

"Uh…yeah, that. I went to the 'swamp'. I'm not sure how, but one day I was transported there. I touched a funny-looking plant…"

"The Jade Lotus!"

"You know a lot more than I thought." Ling nodded approvingly, "Well…now I can tell what someone's mood is, just like you…even more in depth than you, I think. Except its not when I look at someone…its when I touch them. I can read someone's feelings, even their thoughts at times. It can get really annoying, which is why I ask people not to touch me. But I guess that makes me sound weird, doesn't it?"

"Not really," Ty Lee lied. Now it all made sense; Ling's odd behavior that was.

"Ah, the sycophant to the end." Ling smiled. Ty Lee didn't bother to ask what a 'sycophant' was. It didn't sound like a good name to be called, "But there is still something I'm not quite sure about…"

"What happened when I touched you?" Ty Lee suggested. Ling nodded.

"I've never had that happen before. Then again, I've never met anyone like me before. I think…the 'swamp' wanted you to regain your powers, and perhaps through contact with another power-bearer, you received it. I know it doesn't make much sense, but it's the only hunch I got." She looked at Ty Lee seriously, "Did you see anything when you touched me? All I felt was a spark and then you fainted."

"I saw…I saw my mother…and she touched my head…then I don't remember…" Her mother! She looked back at Ling. She looked the same as before, but Ty Lee no longer felt that she resembled her mother. What was happening? "You…you looked like…um…I mean, well, before you looked like her. Now you don't….I'm not quite sure what is going on." Ling considered this for a moment.

"Maybe the 'swamp' was trying to draw you to me through your inner longings…you miss you mother, don't you?" Ty Lee tried not to let the tears fall as she replied.

"Yeah…"

"Then that explains it! It all comes together now, you see? Now…you probably don't want to go advertising this to all your friends and stuff…"

"Why not!?" Ty Lee asked incredulous.

"Well…its so ridiculous sounding and some people take things the wrong way, so it would just be better if you kept it a secret, okay? It can be your special ability to help people without them knowing."

"I guess so…"

"You've been unconscious since yesterday…so we weren't able to finish our lesson. Nor will I be joining the staff at this school, not enough students signed up for my lesson. So…I'm entrusting you with this." She walked over and picked up some scrolls from a lonely bench in the room, "These are body maps that show where pressure points are. Memorize them. You already know how to hit, just do it harder. Practice at least once a week, and I think you'll do great."

"Thank you, Sifu Ling." Ty Lee replied in gratitude. "But, I don't think I can do it without you."

"Oh, believe me, you can. You have more confidence than you realize. I felt it when you touched me." She smiled big, but then looked away, her color turning from pink to blue, "I'm gonna have to go now…I'm expected home since I don't have the job. Take care, okay?"

"But Sifu Ling!" Ty Lee almost jumped out of the bed, "I…I don't know how to…I mean, you can't go yet!"

"The carriages for the teachers who aren't staying are going to be gone soon, so I have to catch one now. You'll be fine. In fact, I think your friends are coming by soon. They tried to get in earlier, but you were still out cold. The younger one was really bossy." She scrunched up her face, which made Ty Lee laughed. That sounded like Azula to her.

"Okay then…Goodbye…" She replied solemnly.

"Hey, don't act so glum. I'm sure we'll see each other again eventually." Ling assured her.

"…you're right. Thanks, Sifu Ling!" She instinctively reached out to hug her, but stopped remembering.

"No…its okay. Once I've touched someone it doesn't feel so bad the second time. And besides, a hug is worth it." Ty Lee wrapped her arms around her, feeling her soft skin. It prickled as she touched it. "Bye kid…Ty Lee." Ling corrected herself and stood.

"Bye!" She called as Ling left the room. Then she lay back on the bed and sighed. What a weird day this was. And the only person she could truly talk to it about had just left.

She heard footsteps and suddenly Mai and Azula entered the room. Mai looked like she was worried out of her mind, but Azula seemed pleased. Both wore colors of mixed blue and orange.

"Told you she was fine, Mai." Azula announced. "I can't believe that you fainted during your lesson. Was it that boring?" Mai ran over to her side and checked her forehead. Ty Lee tried to slink away from her cold hand but was unable to.

"No. I just…I was doing handstands, and a lot of blood ran to my head and I passed out." Ty Lee lied.

"For a whole day?" Azula wasn't buying it.

"You faint when blood runs _from_ your head, not to it." Mai corrected. Uh oh. Now she was definitely found out.

"Well…I'm sure it can happen when blood comes to it as well." Ty Lee huffed, "I'm just saying what the nurse told me." She looked out of the corner of her eye to make sure the nurse wasn't coming. If she did her explanation would be completely falsified, for Azula would certainly question her.

"Can you leave now?" Mai asked.

"Uh…let me ask the nurse." Ty Lee slowly got out of the bed, her legs a little stiff from not using them. She approached the nurse, who was coming into the main office from another room. "Can I go? I feel better, and you said my temperature was fine."

"I guess you can." The nurse replied warmly. With that Ty Lee ran back to her room.

"Let's go!" She cried, grabbing the scrolls Ling had given her and dragging the others through the door to the hall to stop furthering questioning of the nurse.

"What is that?" Azula pointed accusingly at the scrolls.

"Oh, well I missed a lot of the lesson yesterday, so Sifu Ling is letting me have these scrolls so I can learn more myself." Ty Lee beamed.

"So you enjoyed the lesson?" Mai asked.

"Yeah, I didn't expect to, but it was actually fun."

"Well, I've heard that that Ling lady is a real nut-job." Azula interjected, "Acts really funny. Someone even told me she had to go to a crazy house once." Her color had turned a dark shade of yellow.

"That's just some rumor." Ty Lee insisted, "Sifu Ling is…I mean, she's really nice!" She soon realized that this didn't defend her argument at all and shut up. The remainder of the walk to their room consisted of Azula describing her lesson to Ty Lee and how she had impressed the teacher so much and that Midori was so jealous she looked like she was going to scream. Ty Lee obviously was supposed to find this all amusing, but she simply nodded and smiled and didn't really think about what Azula was saying.

When they entered their room, Azula confronted Mai.

"Okay, show her." She said menacingly.

"Show me what?" Ty Lee asked.

"I-I'm not sure she'll be interested in…"

"If you are going to be playing around with them, she's going to have to see them eventually." Azula smiled triumphantly. Mai sighed and walked over to her bag. She pulled out a small case and set it on the ground before them.

"What is it?" Ty Lee was now intrigued. Mai opened the case. Inside were several rows of small daggers and knifes, all with little protective blunt ends over the real sharp ones for safety. "What…why do you have these?"

"Remember? I took a knife throwing class. Everyone got a case, since the class is being accepted in the curriculum." Mai looked at the glinting metal with an interested smile. For a second, Ty Lee thought she was going to pick one up and hurt someone, namely Azula, but she didn't. Instead, she closed the case. "I'm going to be practicing with them, but it will be mostly outside, so you won't get hurt."

"That's cool!" Ty Lee said, "Once you get good I can hold objects and you can pin them out of my hands."

"Uh…maybe not. I might cut you or something."

"But when you get good you will be able to hit anything you want without hurting people. I've heard about it!"

"We'll see." Mai replied, which translated to Ty Lee as probably not.

"I'm going to go out on the balcony." Ty Lee informed.

"Okay, you don't have to tell everyone." Azula retorted from her bed.

Ty Lee disregarded her comment and went out to the balcony. She had made a habit to go out and watch the flowers at least once a day, and she had not been able to yesterday. She was going to make up for it today, though, and stay out extra long.

They had added a small table and some chairs on the balcony to make it more comfortable when they went out. One of the tall trees had its branches as a roof above the table. Ty Lee sat down in the shade and looked out at the field. The wind was pushing the flowers gently, making a wave of colors. She smiled, and wondered if this is what it would look like to her if she was in a large crowd of moving people. A lot of colors…

She laid her hand on the table and touched something unexpected. It felt like foil. She drew back and turned to the table. On top of it was a wrapped object that weighed down a piece of paper. She picked up the object but then grabbed the paper quickly in order to stop the wind from blowing it away. There was writing scrawled on it.

_Hope you feel better. _

She stared at the writing. It wasn't anyone's she knew. Unless someone was masking their handwriting to keep it a secret. She walked back inside and shut the door. Trying not to attract too much attention, she got on her bed and lay down. Neither Azula nor Mai looked up to see what she was doing or what she was holding.

Curious, she unwrapped the item. It was fairly small, about as big as her thumb. It was shaped like a poorly cut cube and smelled of orange. She deduced that it was…candy? To make sure, she slowly inserted it in her mouth. It was! Orange rice candy, she had had it before. She let the rice paper melt and, savoring every flavor, sucked the chewy treat.

Her attention returned to the note. Whoever sent this knew she had been in the infirmary. And that she went out to the balcony every day. Or, they were just used to her going out to the balcony and when she was unable to the other day they assumed she was sick. Either way, she still had no other clues to identify this person.

She stuffed the note in her bag and raced back to the balcony to look around. Maybe her mystery person was still outside. But there was no sign of anyone. Nothing to see but the flowers and the sky. She frowned, but then quickly leaned over the railing.

"Thank you!!" She cried. Even if she didn't know who it was, she would find out. Eventually.

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**Ah. I've added a new mystery element. YAY! I kinda get rid of Ling real fast, but she has served her purpose in this story. I don't think she'll come back...I dd enjoy writing her though. She can see auras again! Darn...now I'm gonna have to get used to writing what people's auras look like ALL THE TIME! (this is why I originally got rid of her aura-ability, becuase it was annoying. But with only a few (10?) chapters left, I'll grin and bear it). But yeah!!! I hope to update soon again, school is out next week, so I'll have TONS of time!**

**R&R!**


	29. The Visit

**Sorry, I wrote another oneshot without writing a chapter first! GOMEN GOMEN GOMEN-NASAI!!! But I had to finish that before this saturday, so I skipped. Sorry!! This is really short, and I don't like it quality-wise or dialoug-wise. But it is important so I had to write it. I rewrote it several times and this was the best I got it. This is an important part of the story. I planned this chapter...hm...about chapter 5. I did add one part spontaneously, but I'm glad. It's starting to pull everything together and helping me plan more chapters. Well...please review!!**

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Ty Lee stared at the scrolls, puzzled. She had been self-training herself from them for a few weeks now during her free period while the others were at their combat classes. She had never thought it would be this complex though. Not only were the sketches sloppy, but the writing wasn't exactly legible either. She wondered if Ling had penned it herself. If she had, she had no right to mock Ty Lee's as she had.

She started each session with stretches, finding herself growing more flexible everyday. She also practiced stances and memorized all of the positions of the pressure points. But when it came to the actual punches she faltered. Even hitting an imaginary foe was difficult. Her arm felt like it went limp and it dangled as she pushed it forward. Definitely not what was supposed to happen.

Azula told her this was because she was weak. Mai said it was because she was kind. Ty Lee figured it was a mixture of both.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to translate the scribbles on the scroll. She knew enough to be able to read most sentences now, but some of the words that were used were a bit obscure. It was probably because they were mostly body parts.

Enough reading. She rolled up the scroll and placed it in her bag. It was time to practice hitting again. She set her legs in the right position and felt her weight even out. Her fingers curled into her hand correctly and she stood their, waiting. Who was she going to fight today?

An Earth Kingdom soldier seemed good. She had heard rumors that the rebellion was trying to invade the Fire Nation. Seemed unlikely, since most of the land was already under Fire Nation control. Couldn't be too unprepared, though.

She closed her eyes and imagined the outline of an Earth Kingdom soldier. Tall. Bulky. Clad in green with one of those funny hats on his head. He was in a stance similar to hers, prepared to hit her with a rock or something like that. Alright. She breathed in, and hit forward.

It wasn't the best that she had done, but it was better than usual. She opened her eyes and smiled. It was an improvement. Improvements were good.

She was about to punch again when there was a knock on the door. She turned, wondering who would be here at this time of day. Almost everyone she knew had some sort of combat class now. Ty Lee opened the door. It was Asuka. She looked a bit worried.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you busy?" She asked.

"No, not really."

"That's good. Uh…" She fumbled with her glasses as she usually did, "You have visitors. Protocol demands that I should ask for permission before sending them to your room." Visitors? Could this mean…?

"Who? Who is it!?" She asked excitedly, almost pouncing on the Iincho.

"A young lady, a little boy, and a man." Asuka informed, stepping back a bit. Young lady meant Miyako. A little boy meant her son, Ty Lee's nephew. And a man…could she have meant Kei? Ty Lee didn't consider Kei to be a _man_ quite yet. "Should I send them in?"

"Yes!" Ty Lee ha been waiting for a visit for a long time, "…wait, Asuka, don't go get them yet."

"Uh…why?" She fumbled even more with her glasses.

"You have something else you want to tell me too, right?" Ty Lee asked. She had noticed the girl had been acting way too nervous to just be asking for permission. Asuka bit her lip.

"…yes. Real fast though. I…I know you have an…idea about Lien…" She said the girl's name in a whisper. Ty Lee's heart accelerated, "I think we can trust you…but…I…can't talk about it here. There is going to be a committee for preparation for the Fire Days Festival. I'll put you on the list. Knowing how unpopular committees are, you, me, and Lien will most likely be the only people on it. The first meet is in a week. We'll talk more then." Asuka's eyes narrowed and she looked around, as if waiting for an answer.

"O-Okay. That sounds like…fun." Ty Lee smiled. Asuka nodded and left the room.

What was that about? Well, it didn't really matter. She was going to find out about Lien…even if it took a week of waiting to do so. The way Asuka acted was odd. Whatever was happening must have been really serious. And they trusted her! Or at least, Asuka did. She doubted Lien would ever trust her.

Ty Lee sat on her bed and stared at the open doorway, waiting. The excitement washed back in again. Miyako was coming! She was going to visit her. And her baby was born! She wondered how big he was. It was a boy! Miyako had wanted a girl. But Ty Lee was sure she loved him all the same.

Footsteps in the hallway. They were almost there! She held her breath.

And there was Miyako. She was in a silky pink dress splattered with red dragons. In her arms was a bundle of cloth. When she saw Ty Lee her eyes brightened.

"Ty Lee!" She smiled. Ty Lee ran forward and wrapped her arms around her, careful to avoid the baby, "Oh, I've missed you so much." She kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"Not nearly as much as I've missed you."

"I'm sure your right." She bent over and folded back a blanket to reveal the baby. He was small, with tufts of black hair on his wrinkled head. His eyes were open and he stared intently, "This is your nephew, Akira. Akira, meet your aunt, Ty Lee."

Ty Lee watched as the little boy squirmed, his eyes locked on hers. Then he smiled a big, toothless smile. He was so cute!

"When was he born?" She asked.

"Two months ago. And he's been very healthy. He was a very small boy, though. Gave your mother a scare, you did." She tickled his chin. Ty Lee laughed. It figured a nurse would know all about his health.

Someone else stepped into the room and Ty Lee looked up. She tried not to let the shock show on her face. Standing behind Miyako was not Kei but…Tay, their house-servant. Miyako saw the exchange and motioned for them to sit down.

"Miyako…where is Ke-" Ty Lee tried to ask when she sat on her bed, but Miyako shushed her.

"Lets…lets not talk about that now. Tell me about school. Is it fun?" Ty Lee began a thorough explanation about school and her classes and friends. She made sure not to mention Lien's mysteriousness in depth, though. Asuka trusted her, after all. Miyako and Tay listened intently, asking questions now and then.

Ty Lee didn't bring up the subject about her brother, though it was obvious she wanted to know why he was not with them. They stayed for about an hour, completely immersed in Ty Lee's school life. Finally, Miyako sighed and looked back at Tay. He nodded, and she stared at Ty Lee seriously.

"Ty Lee, we didn't come here today just to visit you like normal."She explained.

"Then…why did you?"

"I don't want you to…to get scared now…but…" Her face crumpled and tears burst out. She tightened her grip on her child, who cried out at the sound of his mother's wails. Quickly, she composed herself. Ty Lee didn't know what was happening, "Kei…Kei has joined the army, Ty Lee."

Ty Lee stared blankly for a moment, letting it all sink in. Her brother…had joined the army? Her blood froze. This…this didn't make sense.

"Why?" She asked, barely a whisper.

"I'm…I'm not at liberty to say. But…he's doing it to protect you! He only thinks of others and not himself." Miyako cried, obviously admiring and despising her husband's selflessness. "I…I don't live at your father's house anymore. Tay and I…we're moving. I bought Tay off of your father, you see. We're going to go live in an Earth Kingdom colony."

"But…but that's so far away!" Ty Lee croaked. She couldn't bear to have the ones she loved the most cut off from her.

"I'm sorry. But if I don't…Kei would have gone for nothing…" Ty Lee understood that, but the logic was still confusing.

"What…what am I supposed to do?"

"Live. Live a normal life. That's what Kei wants. Don't worry about him, though I know you will. He's very capable of taking care of himself."

"Will…will I ever see you again?"

"I hope so. I'll try to visit you again as soon as possible but…it will be hard." Tears had started to form in Ty Lee's eyes, "Oh, Ty Lee, I'm so sorry this has to happen to you, of all people." Miyako handed Akira over to Tay and embraced Ty Lee, holding her firmly. Ty Lee cried openly on her shoulder. Kei, why did you do this?

"Miyako, I'm sorry to inform you of our carriage…" Tay said solemnly. Miyako nodded and drew back.

"I have to go, Ty Lee." Ty Lee wanted to scream for her to not leave her, to stay with her. Instead, she nodded. "Say…goodbye, Akira." Akira was passed back to his mother and stared once more at Ty Lee. His golden eyes glistened and wavered.

"Goodbye, Akira. Goodbye, Miyako." She breathed in slowly, "See…you soon…"

"Yes." Miyako replied. She leaned forward and kissed her, giving one final hug. Then she walked out, trying to hide her tears from the rest of the school. Tay remained in the room for a moment.

"Ty Lee, Kei didn't tell Mistress Miyako everything. He gave me word to tell you, personally."

"W-What did he say,"

"He said he would send word to you soon. And that you should never stop smiling."

Ty Lee froze. This was what he always had urged her to do. And now it seemed harder then ever.

"I'll…I'll try my best, Kei." She whispered to herself. Tay sighed and then followed Miyako.

Ty Lee fell back on her bed and cried herself into exhaustion.

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**More of this will be explained in the accompaniement to this story I'm planning to write. Ugh...I hated the dialouge here. I'm usually good at writing sentimental, but here it sounds like a B-Movie or bad Soap Opera or something...Yeah! Miyako comes back! And she had had her baby!!! Akira is so cute, I wish I could've written more of him, but it would've made this a bit repetittive. **

**Lien's mystery is starting to develop more. I'm hoping to write the committee scene within two chapters. **

**Okay, well, please review!! I hope to update soon! Transformers Animated will be over in two weeks so I'll have no more oneshots on that regard XDD**


	30. The Stranger

**Phew...sorry for the late update. I really had to write another oneshot because it was bothering me and I could do nothing else. Also because Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen comes out in 6 days XD We're going to see it hopefully at the 10:00 pm showing on the 24th. No, I'm not one of those fans who goes for the midnight showing the day prior. I'm almost 15 and my stamina is not very good at all. I would be asleep before the movie was over, which would be a waste. **

**Here is the introduction of the last of the OC's in the story that do anything later. XD There may be some random other OC's but they are just like Midori's groupies who just have a name and really no story plot. It also starts up a certain...uh...well, I'll discuss it later because I don't want to spoil anything. I hope the writing quality is better than last chapter's Soap Opera scenes XDD So, here it is! **

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"Ty Lee, seriously, this is getting out of control." Azula insisted. She was a shade of exasperated orange going on the brink of red. Ty Lee didn't answer. She simply stared at the ceiling, as she had been for the last day.

"Listen to Azula, Ty Lee," Mai said, her color a concerned shade of blue. It looked like it took a lot of effort to say this as her face was contorted with every syllable. Normally, Ty Lee would laugh at the fact that Mai agreed with Azula but she wasn't in the mood, "You can't stop talking to us forever!"

Oh, yes she could. And that was exactly what she planned to do.

She was allowed to spend this whole day without attending any classes by a request from Azula to Mrs. Cho. A 'grief period', they called it. Though Ty Lee was sure Mrs. Cho didn't consider her brother enlisting in the army to be a cause of grief. Azula didn't either, but Mai prodded her until she asked for permission.

_"Joining the army is a sign of loyalty to the Fire Nation. You should be proud of Kei." _

Ty Lee wondered if this comment had been provoked by Azula's previous feelings to her brother which were smashed into a million pieces. Maybe Azula wanted to inflict pain on Miyako because of her marriage to him. She had twitched uneasily when Ty Lee had told her that Miyako was the one who told her the news. But this seemed unlikely on several accounts.

"If you are angry at us for not telling you sooner, we're not sorry." Azula announced blatantly.

"Azula!" Mai exclaimed at her insensitivity.

"Mai, you know perfectly well if we had told her about this when we found out she would have become Miss Pity-Party several weeks in advanced and may have missed out on her chance to have her combat lessons." She reminded, crossing her arms. Mai sighed and looked through the open door to the balcony.

"It's almost time for lunch. Are you coming, Ty Lee?" She asked hopefully. Ty Lee once more didn't respond verbally, and instead rolled to her side, her back now facing her friends. "Okay then…if that's what you want…" And the two of them walked out of the door, Azula slamming it behind her.

Ty Lee positioned herself on her back again and flattened the sheets under her. Her hand brushed her pillow and she felt the dried tears that had so recently stained it. She stopped, letting her hand feel it again. It was a melancholy feeling that invoked pureness as well. The tears symbolized her sadness but the wetness reminded her of Kei's intentions…that she was not allowed to fully understand. That had angered her more than her friends refusal to tell her earlier. If Kei's reasons to join the army was so important why couldn't she know? She had a bad feeling it was because they thought she was too young.

Well, she wasn't too young! She had gone through a lot in her life, and she figured that emotionally she was a lot older than most of the girls in her class.

A light breeze flew into the room from the open doors to the balcony and caught her attention. Even though she was hurting, she didn't feel she should miss out on going to her favorite place in the room to think instead of being lazy and lounging on her bed. Maybe the flowers would make her feel better.

Slowly, she got up and walked outside. She was greeted with the flowers waving to her from the wind. She smiled and waved back before sitting down on the chair. The sun beat gently on her head, warming herself up. She hadn't been out for awhile, and it felt good.

Her mood lightened, her mind brought herself back to her treatment of her friends. She frowned. She probably shouldn't have been so mean to them. They were just trying to look out for her best interests, even if Azula wasn't so obviously doing it. As soon as they came back, she was going to make up with them. But it was going to be hard. Especially if Azula didn't change her view on Kei's enlistments anytime soon.

A leaf fell from the tree above her and caught in her hair. She quickly rustled through it to release the leaf, only to have more leaves fall, showering her and the table. There was the sound of a scuffle in the branches, and Ty Lee looked up. She couldn't see anybody, or anything for that matter, out of place among the leaves. But the tree was shaking more than usual, which suggested movement from within the branches.

Ty Lee got up from her chair and stepped back.

"Hello?" She called tentatively. There was no response, though the sounds from the tree stopped. She tried again, "Anyone there?"

To her surprise, a head popped out from the tree. She screamed and fell backwards, landing on her bottom. She hadn't really expected anything to be in the tree, but her curiosity had taken over at the time. Now that there was a person in the tree she wished there wasn't.

The figure jumped down from his post and landed on top of the table.

"Uh…yeah, I'm here." It was a boy. He had fine, jet black hair, though at the time it was dirtied with leaves, tree sap and well…dirt. His color was a content orange. He was clad in a fine red tunic and pants, but he was missing shoes. His tunic's right sleeve was ripped off. This made her even more afraid. She used her hands to push herself back away from him.

"What are you doing here? Boys are supposed to be at the other school. You could be expelled." She said quickly, her words coming out in a rush.

"If that's the worse they can do I'm not really afraid." He gave a smile and stepped forward, reaching out his hand to help her out, "I'm Ryu."

Ty Lee didn't accept the hand given her, and instead stared at it blankly. She didn't understand this boy's logic. Going to school was a privilege. Why risk expulsion for something so trivial as hanging out in her tree? Speaking of which…why had he been doing in her tree?

"What were you doing up there?" She pointed at the tree with a wavering hand. She still hadn't gotten completely over the fact that a boy had just shown up out of nowhere.

"I would have expected better manners from a lady from a noble family, but as you are a lady I will answer your question." He said in a bit of a mocking tone. "I was in the tree because that's where I go everyday." Ty Lee didn't think that really answered her question. But it did clear something up for her.

"So you were the one that left me the candy!" She realized aloud. This made the boy turn bright red, his color turning a faint shade of purple, and withdraw his hand.

"Uh…y-yeah, that was me." He said slowly.

"Well, thanks! It was good!"

"Oh, you can have some more if you want. I have loads. Parents keep sending it to me, but I don't like them much." He reached into his pocket and retrieved a few pieces of the orange rice candy. Instantly, Ty Lee sprang to her feet and rushed to the table where he laid them.

"Thanks a lot!" She exclaimed before shoving one in her mouth. She hadn't eaten all day. The candy was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. Ryu laughed.

"You still haven't told me your name. I've resolved to calling you 'Braidy' or 'Stretchy', but I think I'd rather have your real name." At the reference to her braid, Ty Lee's now sticky hands raised to her hair. She hadn't bothered to braid her hair in her sadness. In fact, she hadn't even washed before going to bed, or changed her clothes. She must look like a filthy, stinky, uncombed mess. And in front of a boy! She blushed.

"Ty Lee. I'm Ty Lee." She said, hoping he hadn't noticed. "So…why have been coming to the tree?"

"It's the tallest one around, and thus the best to climb," He replied matter-of-factly.

"And you really don't care about being expelled?"

"Nope. I think I'd like it actually. School's not much fun." He stretched his arms and looked at her, "My turn for a question: Why weren't you out here the other day? I assume I was right in thinking you were sick the other time, but yesterday it wouldn't seem right."

"Yesterday…?" She thought for a second, then remembered what happened the other day. She had forgotten in all the excitement, "Oh…I was just…sad."

"Sad? You?" He made a face, "You're never sad. At least not when I see you."

"Well…my brother just joined the army, so I'm sad now…" This caused Ryu to burst out laughing. Ty Lee scowled at him.

"I'm sorry!" He said, while holding his stomach, "But…is your brother a good fighter?"

"Of course. The best!"

"Then you shouldn't worry! I'm sure he is very capable of taking care of himself!" Ryu assured. Ty Lee considered this. Kei was a very good fighter. He had passed all his training with flying colors. He had attained blue flames long before expected in his bending. Of course he would be fine! Miyako and her were just big worry warts.

"You're right…I guess I was just being silly." She smiled.

"You should always smile like that." Ryu commented. He stretched again and brought Ty Lee's attention back to his torn sleeve.

"Did you tear that when you climbed up here?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah." He grabbed the fringed ends of fabric in his fingers, "You noticing me caught me by surprise and it got snagged on a branch. Nothing big. I have a lot of tunics like this."

"So you are from a noble family too?" She noticed the silk that made up his tunic and popped another piece of candy in her mouth. It was a pretty good quality silk, Ty Lee had seen it before. He shrugged.

"They might as well be. I mean, that's how they want me to act. But we're just a merchant family. Its just…" He paused, "Well, we make stuff for the royal palace, so we're a very high-standing merchant family."

"That's cool! All my Papa does is consult on war plans and boring stuff." She stuck out her tongue.

"You room with the Princess, right?"

"Oh yeah…" Ty Lee found herself unwillingly feeling a hint of jealousy. Everyone always talked about Azula, "She's my best friend."

"Must be a drag, huh?" He replied airily. This caught Ty Lee by surprise.

"So you've met her?" Ryu laughed.

"Never gotten the pleasure. But my dad has." His smile widened, "I prefer nice, cute girls to pompous catowls."

"Yeah, she can act like one sometimes-" Ty Lee stopped, realizing what he had said. Her eyes widened. Was he talking about her? Did he think she was cute? It would be a lie to say she was not attracted to his rugged look. She decided to change the subject, "How do you get over her without anyone seeing you?"

"I have a few friends that keep the groundskeeper occupied when I slip out. They actually like school but understand my plight and so help."

"So I probably shouldn't tell anyone about you."

"You could. I wouldn't care if you did. I would finally get out of school."

"But then you wouldn't be able to come here!" The words came out of her mouth before she could stop. She sounded desperate, but she knew that she liked Ryu and didn't want to lose the opportunity to have a new friend, and possible more, so quickly. He seemed to think this over.

"Yeah…I don't think that leaving this tree would be worth it." He teased. She wanted to playfully punch him but feared that she would either look too eager or that she would accidentally hurt him. "You are free every afternoon right? I've seen you practicing your…uh…I don't know what to call it."

"Dim Mak." She informed. She hoped he hadn't seen her when she was practicing all the time. She hadn't exactly been acting like she would if she knew someone was watching.

"Yeah, you're pretty good at it. For a girl." Although it was a minced compliment, it completely washed away Ty Lee's embarrassment and allowed her to relax. "Well…do you think it would be okay if I came by here to talk during your free period? That is if you want I mean…"

"Of course! Azula and Mai will be in combat classes then and so we can be alone!" Once more Ty Lee wanted to take back what she had just said. Why couldn't she think before speaking!? "So that you won't be found out, that is!"

"Of course." He said. He looked over to his own school and noticed something, "Oh, I have to go now. My friends are giving me the signal that the groundskeeper is looking for me. See you tomorrow?"

"Uh…yeah! Sure, Ryu!" Ty Lee replied, a bit too energetically.

"I hope that we will get to know each other better in the future." He bent low to the ground and took her hand in his. Before she could comprehend what was happening he had lifted it to his lips and given it a small kiss. "Tomorrow, then, my lady."

Ty Lee stood there, frozen to the spot. Realizing he was waiting for a reply she nodded and gave a small smile. Taking this as her farewell, Ryu grabbed hold of the trunk of the tree and slid down it to the ground. Ty Lee watched, waving once he looked up. He waved back and ran off into the field, instantly camouflaged in the many colors of the flowers.

Ty Lee thought she had never felt so pink in her life. It was as if everything that had made her sad earlier had completely vanished. Ryu had explained to her what he friends had been trying to say the whole day: Kei was going to be fine. She should have known it but she was clouded by her shock and despair.

Ty Lee grabbed the last piece of candy from the table and walked back inside. With a contented sigh she fell into her bed, letting the cushions ease her fall. She grabbed one of her pillows and held it tight against her. Now the dried tears could not be felt. Only the soft silk. If only she could make tomorrow come sooner.

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**Yay! Ty Lee's guy has FINALLY come into the story! I've been planning him from day 1 and I finally get to write him!! Ryu is a complex character. He wants to be free and unconstrained but his family has imprinted within him manners to please the nobility they work with and such, so he is like a rebellious gentleman XDD But I think its soo cute! I'm not very good at writing romance, but fortunately this story is more about emotional layers and such. My other story, Saving Kyoshi, has romance as the main plot, so this is kinda like practice for writing in that. BTW, if you read SK and want it to update soon, spam Zutarafan4's inbox with 'HURRY UP BETA' messages so she will work on the next chapter. I already have the other written but since I am horrid at writing romance she betas for me. **

**I know Ryu seems a bit too straightforward with his comments and actions (the kissing of the hand, for example) but it shall all be explained later. Much later. Also, I forgot to write in the story Ryu's age. He's around 13 going on 14, and thus 3 to 4 years older than Ty Lee. This also explains some of his more mature statements and such. **

**I'm just glad I don't have to write anymore angsty emo Ty Lee (for the moment that is XPPP). It was depressing writing her all sad and lonesome and mean to Azula and Mai. But it had to be done for the sake of the emotional tones!!!! **

**I hope to write more soon, but I do have more oneshots in mind (only three more!) and I have some drawing contests on Youtube I want to enter, but I will try to keep the updates more consistant. Please Review, because you know that makes my day!**


	31. The Meeting

**Ah an update. Sorry, I've been busy with my bible quiz team I'm on. Nationals starts in two days and I just finished a college tournament today XDD So I'm rather busy. But I finished this chapter before Nationals so that I wouldn't think about it when I'm supposed to be winning games. After this I'm going to be working ona oneshot so no updates for like...a week or so. I will also be working on a drawing contest entry that I'm animating but that shouldn't take too much time. This is an important chapter, though I think it is kinda rushed...that is because first and foremost Lien was a character that I hadn't initially planned. Asuka was always in my brain as the 'kind class representative' but then I wrote another character in the same chapter Asuka was in. I decided she should be some kind of rebel, though at the time I wrote it she had no reason. I also wrote Asuka somehow helping her in that same chapter, though at the time I also didn't know why. The next few weeks I mulled over it, talked about it with my bff Zutarafan4, and finally, a few days ago I got Lien's backstory COMPLETED!! So here it is! What you've all been waiting for!! Please review!**

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Life had never felt so sweet for Ty Lee. As if nothing at all could go wrong. Optimism had prevailed once more, and she made sure that she would always remain optimistic for the rest of her time alive. It had only been five days ago that she thought nothing could ever go right for her again. And then she had met him.

They hadn't known each other for very long and yet Ty Lee felt like they could have been childhood friends. He had been watching her so long that he knew a lot about her. So she had been content during his visits to listen and learn about him.

Ryu had a lot to talk about. He had travelled all over the Fire Nation with his parents. After creating fine wares for the royal palace all kind of high-standing families had hired his family to fashion furniture and vases for them. They personally delivered the products, which is how they went to so many places. Ty Lee envied this. She hadn't been allowed to leave her own home most of the time.

His favorite place to go to was Ember Island. He spoke very adamantly about it, and was shocked to learn that Ty Lee had never been to a beach before. He went on to explain in depth everything about what the beach and the ocean was like. In Ty Lee's mind, it just looked like a big lake with more sand. But it did sound like a lot more fun.

Ty Lee found with joy that she and Ryu had a lot in common. The only thing that seemed to be different about them was their age. Ty Lee had naively assumed that he was only a year older than herself, judging only by his height. He had admitted that this was not the case.

_"I'm thirteen, actually. Almost fourteen. But that doesn't matter."_

Ty Lee didn't let this faze her, however. She knew for a fact that her father had been several years older than her mother, and they got married.

At the moment, she was sitting at the table on the balcony, Ryu in the chair across from her.

"So, heard from your brother yet?" Ryu asked tentatively. He hadn't brought up the subject much.

"No…" She replied, "Should I have? I don't really know how that works."

"Well, I know that it is possible for them to correspond with family members through messages, but I'm not sure how." He turned and changed the subject, "Do you have anything exciting happening at school soon?" He made a face, and Ty Lee laughed. That was another interest that they didn't share. Learning.

"We're starting to learn about the rise of the first Fire Lord after the end of the Fire Sages in history with Sensei Shiraishi. Sensei Koboyashi is giving us some kind of midterm exam in a few weeks. Sensei Akiyama is making us play at tempos too fast for normal humans. And Sensei Cirno doesn't seem to know much about arithmetic…" She thought for a second, "And that's about it…nothing really important happening…"

"What about anything with the Princess? You doing anything _fun_ soon?" He made sure to put emphasis on fun.

Ryu always addressed Azula as 'The Princess'. At first Ty Lee insisted that he call her by her name, but Ryu refused. He said that she would never be more than 'The Princess' to him. This made Ty Lee feel uneasy. Ryu had never met Azula, nor did he get many good looks at her since she rarely made an appearance on the balcony. And Ty Lee had tried to speak highly of her. Yet, Ryu seemed to have a cold attitude toward her, one that Ty Lee couldn't dissuade. He was as set on his opinion of her as Mai was.

"I don't think so…" Then it hit her, "Oh, stupid me!" She let her face connect with her palm.

"What are you doing!? You're not stupid!" Ryu insisted, horrified at the fact that she had just purposefully harmed herself.

"I know I'm not. I just forgot something important! I have a meeting to go to today…now, actually!" She looked at him apologetically, "I'm sorry, Ryu. I really can't miss this."

"That's fine. See you tomorrow, then?" He replied. His face didn't betray any sense of sadness.

"Yeah, tomorrow." Ty Lee turned away and walked back into her room. She couldn't bear to see him leave. Their visit was supposed to last longer.

But this was important. How could she have forgotten the Fire Days Festival committee meeting? It was the first one too! She had been so excited about it. Asuka had hinted that she would finally be allowed to know Lien's secret…whatever that was. But Ryu had come into her life and completely disrupted everything. She had been so distracted daydreaming and such.

And now she was late! Asuka had been sure to inform her that the meeting was going to be during the free period. Ty Lee hadn't exactly been paying attention to her when she told her, but had made a mental note nonetheless. She raced through her room into the hall, the door crashing behind her. A few girls stared as she dashed down the hall toward the library, wondering why he was in such a rush. They wouldn't understand even if she tried to explain it to them.

Her hair flew into her face as she reached the large doors that were the entrance to the library. With all the strength she had she rammed the doors open, even though she knew that the extra effort wasn't needed. When she entered the library, she stopped to catch her breath. Her lungs and legs were burning. But she had no time to dilly-dally. Asuka and Lien were most likely waiting for her. Slowly, she meandered her way over to the table where she had seen the two of them conspiring before, hoping she wouldn't attract any more attention. The librarian was already glaring at her.

As she had assumed, Lien and Asuka were sitting at the table. Asuka was fiddling with her glasses. Lien was leaning back in her chair. She didn't look amused when she saw Ty Lee walking towards them.

"You're late," She said coolly.

"I'm sorry! I was preoccupied and I…" Ty Lee fumbled for an excuse that sounded good, but none came to her. She quickly sat down.

"If you're not going to take this seriously then maybe you shouldn't be a part of this." Lien raised an eyebrow as if questioning Ty Lee's dedication.

"Lien, please, don't be so harsh!" Asuka pleaded. "We need someone else to make this work, and Ty Lee knows so much already! We can't run her off now!"

"Fine!" Lien lifted her hands in exasperation.

"Now, since we are doing this under the pretense that this is a committee meeting, we probably should get some actual work done for the Fire Days Festival." Asuka laid out some scrolls on the table.

"Oh come on, Asuka. You just wanted to do something Iincho-like. It had nothing to do with 'pretense'." Lien narrowed her eyes, "If we're gonna tell her, we should do it now when no one's here. Who knows who could pop up once we've started drawing up diagrams for flower arrangements or whatever you were planning for us to do?"

"Tell me…what?" Ty Lee asked warily. Lien had apparently forgotten that she was there and stared at her.

"Listen, Ty Lee. Asuka may trust you, but I'm still not convinced. You have to swear that you will never tell a living soul what I am about to tell you." Lien looked like she was prepared to kill Ty Lee if the situation demanded it. Ty Lee sunk in her chair and nodded rapidly. "Swear it!"

"I-I swear!"

"Okay then," She sucked in air, and her ears could be seen wiggling behind the hair she used to conceal them, "We're going to break out of the school."

The idea struck Ty Lee as so ridiculously stupid that she couldn't help but smiling. Why would breaking out of the school be so important, almost life-threatening? It didn't make sense to be taking this so seriously. Lien didn't appreciate the look on Ty Lee's face. But before she could say anything Asuka spoke up.

"I think you should elaborate, Lien." Lien shot her a look, but followed her advice nevertheless.

"It isn't as lame as it sounds. I mean, it may seem like not a big deal, but you have to hear the whole story," She started, "I'm not…not…" She looked warily around the room, "I'm not really Fire Nation…"

There was an unnatural silence following that phrase.

"Not…Fire Nation?" Ty Lee repeated.

"Yeah. My father is Fire Nation, but my mother…she was an Earth Kingdom citizen."

"Really?" Ty Lee's eyes sparkled, "Were they in love? Did they go against their traditions to be together!?" Lien scowled.

"If they were in love, that only makes what the…" Lien went on to say a word that Ty Lee didn't recognize but made Asuka cringe, "…did worse."

"What did he do?"

"He was a soldier positioned in a Fire Nation occupied town in the Earth Kingdom. My mother lived there. They were…close." Asuka cringed again, but Ty Lee remained unaware of what was so horrible, "One day she left to go with some relatives. She was gone a long time. When she returned, she immeadiately went to see my father. To show him the child she claimed was his. His commanding officer thought she was falsely accusing him and killed her. My father watched, holding me in his arms, as she died. Didn't even try to stop it. They didn't kill me, though. I was supposedly innocent."

"That's awful!" Ty Lee cried, her raised voice catching the attention of the librarian. Asuka motioned for her to be quieter.

"He took me home, married a hogmonkey, and raised me as _their_ child. They didn't tell me the truth until last year." She sighed, "It was then I realized I wanted nothing to do with the Fire Nation anymore. I wanted to go to be where my mother was…they didn't like that, of course. So they sent me to this school, and ordered Mrs. Cho to make sure I stayed here."

"So that's why you don't say the Fire Nation Oath…" Ty Lee realized aloud.

"And it's also why she wants to break out of the school." Asuka added. "Usually that wouldn't be so hard. I've actually heard about a lot of boys who have run off from the other school…"

"But my father has all the security here, including the groundskeeper, on the lookout for me doing anything suspicious. He will be notified if I'm caught. So it will be hard." She sighed, "I don't know why he's so desperate to keep me here."

"Maybe he loved you." Ty Lee tried. Lien made a face at this.

"If he loved me, he wouldn't have lied to me. If he loved me, he wouldn't have let my mother die. No…he never loved me. He just wants to torture me."

Ty Lee wanted to make Lien think her father loved her. Loved her like Ty Lee wished her own father loved herself. Surely there couldn't be so many heartless parents out there? Surely no other children suffered fates similar to hers? Even though Lien obviously had no intention of being Ty Lee's friend, Ty Lee suddenly felt connected to the poor girl. They had more in common then she knew. She had to help her, even if it endangered her chances of staying in the school.

"When do we plan to do this?" Ty Lee asked.

"The Fire Days Festival, of course!" Asuka explained, "It's going to be very busy then, and it will be easier to sneak her out…except…"

"Except we have no idea how we're going to do it." Lien pouted.

Ty Lee thought for a second. Something had sprung up in her brain. But it was ridiculous. It couldn't work! But when she looked back at the hopeless expressions on the others' faces, she knew they were ready to do anything.

"I think…I think I have an idea…"

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**Ends abruptly, I know. Sorry. Its kinda short too, but it is anticipating two long chapters afterwards. Lien's story actually was something I had considered for Miyako but scrapped. Probably the most suggestive chapter I've written...hope you caught them, Asuka cringed both times XDDD Well, I hope you like it (wow...not a long rant for an a/n...) Read and Review!**


	32. The Plan Set in Motion

**I'm sorry for no updates in awhile. If you read 'A day in the life of TyLeeChan' it gives you a reason to why I couldn't write for awhile. I'm trying to cut down on filler chapters so I can get it over with, but even then there are about 10 chapters left *sigh* I really hope to finish it up this year. Did you know that this story turned two years old on the 2nd? Its so old XD But I think it is a good documentation of my maturing in writing style and stuff. I read the first couple of chapters and laugh because of lame dialouge and bad description and stuff. But its the heart that counts, right? I was 13 and not a very good writer back then, but I THOUGHT I was amazing and I remember I was a bit full of myself with all the reviews I was getting. Now its a bit different. I know that I'm pretty good, but I'm not AMAZING quite yet. Oh well...The end of this is a bit rushed, but it continues in the next chap so yeah. Review, please? Critique much, please?**

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"He's so cute!" Ty Lee cooed.

"You still haven't picked out a name for him." Ryu reminded. Ty Lee put a finger to her mouth as she pondered this.

"How about…Tori?" She suggested.

"'Bird'?" He suppressed a laugh, "Isn't that a little generic."

"Well do you have any better ideas?" She huffed.

"No. 'Tori' sounds good." He smiled.

Ty Lee reached out to pet the hawk's feathers, only to be nipped on the hand. A bit of blood spilled out and landed on the table.

"Bad Tori!" She reprimanded, licking her wound, "Kei would not appreciate that."

The hawk stared at her and cocked its head. She sighed. It didn't look like Tori was going to be cooperative.

"I don't think he understands our language." Ryu smirked.

"I can't believe he's actually here…" Ty Lee murmured.

"I can't believe that he landed on my head." They both laughed at this.

They had only been talking for a few minutes when Tori had arrived. It had given the two of them quite a scare. It wasn't everyday a messenger hawk showed up on your balcony. He brought a note for Ty Lee.

_Ty Lee,_

_I bought this messenger hawk on the way to our latest encampment. I figured you could name him since I'm not good at that kind of stuff. I'm not sure how it works, but apparently they can find their ways to the two people that want to correspond with each other. Some kind of other-worldly power. I have another hawk for Miyako and Akira too. Hopefully we can stay in touch for a long time. _

_So, how is school? I'm sure you are fitting in fine and making a lot of new friends. You are quite the sociable young lady. Over here things are fine. We haven't even seen much action yet. Just a bunch of drills and training. It's actually really boring. _(After this there was a crudely drawn smiley face)

_I hope you aren't angry with me about my decision. It really means more than you can understand. There are plans in motion to keep you safe that involve me here. I wish I could tell you more but I don't think you would comprehend it. _

_Please write me soon, if you can. If not I'm sure Mai will for you. She is a very nice girl._

_Love,_

_Kei_

The note was still in her left hand, clutched tightly so that it wouldn't fly away in the wind. Now Kei didn't feel so far away. A part of him was still with her. And if they kept writing, more parts. It was as if he wasn't in the army at all. He was there, right next to her.

"Where should I keep him?" Ty Lee asked, realizing that would be rather essential.

"I think that there is a mew at the boy's school…" Ryu considered.

"A mew? Like the sound a catowl makes?" Ty Lee was confused.

"No, no, no. A mew is where birds like hawks live. Well…human-made places for them to live. Maybe I could train it to know to go to the mew to sleep at night. Other than that just leave water out for it I guess."

"What about food?"

"They hunt for that themselves."

"Wow. That's so cool!" Ty Lee stared at Tori with a newfound amazement. Whoever thought that hawks could be so independent?

"But maybe before that we should get it used to you. After all, you are partly his owner. We can't have him biting you every time you go after Kei's messages."

"Yeah you're right, but how should we do that?" Ty Lee had no idea how to work with any kind of animal. And from what she could tell she couldn't see any color around him, so it was impossible to tell his moods.

"Uh…I don't know. Maybe you should just be more gentle with him. You are a bit forceful when you try to pet him." Ryu admitted.

"Okay. Gentle…" Ty Lee turned back to Tori, who had started to preen himself. Slowly, she raised her hand. The motion instantly caught the bird's attention and it's head shot up and became fixated on her hand. "Gentle…" She reached out again, though much more tentatively, and touched the bird's feathers. It felt soft and warm. Tori seemed a bit perturbed at being touched, but did not bite like before.

Ty Lee waited a moment, and then stroked the feathers lightly. Tori chirped happily.

"I think you did it!" Ryu exclaimed.

"Y-Yeah! I'm doing it!" Ty Lee affirmed, barely believing it herself. Then, as if nothing significant had happened, Tori drew back and flew into the air, "Ah! He's getting away, what should we do?"

"Kei said that they knew who to go to for the messages. He'll probably come back to you know and then to see if you have written anything."

"Oh…that makes sense," She blushed, realizing how stupid her sudden comment had seemed.

"When are you going to write him?" Ryu asked.

"After the Fire Days Festival tonight. I figure I'll have more to write about after that."

"Good idea." He turned toward the boy's school and frowned, "My friends are telling me that it's time to go. Tomorrow, then?"

"As always!" She watched as Ryu walked over to their tree and shimmied down as he always did. It made her sad to see him leave, but she knew that he would be back. They only saw each other every day.

He made good his departure time, however, because at that moment Azula and Mai burst through the doors into their room. Ty Lee shook her head. How did he leave always right before they came?

"You're hanging outside there _again_? Come on, Ty Lee! We have to hurry!" Azula cried to the balcony. Ty Lee walked inside.

"Hurry for what?" She asked. Azula stared at her as if she had just said the stupidest thing ever. Mai piped up before she could say anything insulting.

"The Fire Days Festival, of course. You were on the planning committee, right?"

"Or did you forget? I mean, seriously, Ty Lee. You met with them once a week. It's not that easy to forget." Azula sneered.

"I didn't forget," Ty Lee insisted, "I just didn't know it started so early."

"Yeah, it starts right before dinner. We actually eat from one of the vendors at the square." Mai informed.

Ty Lee felt excitement rise in her. She had only been to the square a few times, not counting committee meetings, and it was such a pretty place. It took up a majority of the school as well. It seemed like the building was built around it. And there was a lovely fountain in the middle. The water always sparkled when the sunlight hit it just right.

But tonight it would be completely different. First off, it would be dark. But there would be candles in paper lanterns hanging all over the square. And there would be festive banners, vendors, and entertainment all over. Ty Lee had even heard that they had booked a magician to perform there. But what Ty Lee was most excited about was the fireworks. Not only because they were pretty but because they had an important part in her plan.

"Do we need to bring money?" Ty Lee asked.

"Nope. I'm covering everything for tonight's fun. Just one of many perks that comes with being a princess." Azula smiled proudly. Mai looked like she was going to be sick. "And friends of a princess, of course."

"Well, then, let's get ready!"

Ty Lee rushed over and opened her clothes' bag. She already knew exactly what she was going to wear. She had received for her most recent birthday a dark pink kimono with cherry blossom print on it. It was very similar to the kimono she had when she was younger, before so much had happened. I reminded her of the happy times she used to have. And the sad times. Lost in her thoughts, she noticed her color slowly turning blue. No…she had to be happy.

She quickly slipped on the kimono and tied the sash. She had finally mastered the once-hard skill. Sometimes Azula even asked her for help. She smiled, and he color turned pink again. That was more like it. She grabbed her shoes and put them on carefully.

"There! All done!" She cried. "Come on, let's get going!"

"We've been done for awhile now, Ty Lee." Azula said.

"W-What?" Ty Lee couldn't believe it. She had been going so fast. But there were her friends, sitting on their beds, clothed and obviously had been waiting for awhile. "Oh…I'm sorry. Well…let's go!"

They walked out of the room and started for the square. The whole time Ty Lee couldn't stop thinking about all the fun they would have. And at the same time, what had to be done during the fun. Hopefully it would work. Hopefully no one would find out. Lien deserved it. She had gone through so much trouble. Ty Lee wished she could just run away from her problems, but at the moment she still had something to hold on to. Her brother. Her sister-in-law. Ryu. Mai. And…Azula sometimes.

The square was just as magical as she had imagined it. Everywhere there were girls all dressed up in their best kimonos. Their colors were all bright and happy. There were vendors covering the whole area. And games to play. Her heart leapt at the sight of several stuffed animals that were available to win. It reminded her of her own Tori that she now had.

"Okay girls, I'm hungry, so let's eat." Azula announced. At that she motioned for them to follow and she walked over to a vendor close by.

Ty Lee stared at the menu hanging over the booth. So many choices. They all looked really good. But she couldn't waste all her appetite on dinner either. There was sure to be plenty of snacks around. And if Azula was paying, then she could try a little of each.

"I'll have your mild curry, please." Mai ordered.

"Firecracker beef for me." Azula added. At this both eyes were on Ty Lee, who still hadn't made up her mind.

"Uh…chicken turkey Teriyaki, please, sir." She mumbled. Chicken turkey was probably her favorite meat in the world. And she had heard great things about Teriyaki sauce.

"Sure thing, girls. Coming right up." The vendor said. Sure enough, not even a minute later, their food was ready to eat.

There were a few simple tables set up near the food vendors, and the three of them sat down with their dishes. Ty Lee was the first to take a bite.

"This is delicious!" She informed, shoving more into her mouth soon after. The sweet sauce made it taste like candy.

"Ty Lee, everything you eat is suddenly 'delicious'." Mai reminded, "You are real easy to please when it comes to food."

"Am not. I hate fish!" She protested. "And beef. And most vegetables. But I like fruit!"

"That's still a lot of stuff to like."

Ty Lee didn't answer, but instead finished off her food in record timing.

"You shouldn't do that! You'll get sick!" Mai warned.

"Relax. I'm good at eating fast." Ty Lee assured.

"I don't know about that…"

"Hey! Ty Lee!" Ty Lee turned, hearing her name called. It was Asuka, dressed in a blue kimono.

"Oh, hi Asuka!" Ty Lee replied cheerfully. "Have you had dinner yet? Because this vendor over here has…"

"Its time, Ty Lee." She said coolly. Her color suggested that she was worried.

"Aw man, already?" Ty Lee pouted. "Hey, guys, I have to do some last-minute committee work, be back in a few."

"Take as much time as you need. I'm sure we'll still be eating by the time you get back, considering how fast you do things." Azula smirked. Ty Lee nodded, rose from the table and followed Asuka.

"Is everything going as planned?" She whispered as they walked.

"So far, yes it is. Now come, we need to get you a mask." She made her way over to a mask dealer.

"Why a mask?"

"Everyone wears them during the festival so it's like a masquerade. It will also make you almost unrecognizable, so they won't really know what you are doing." Asuka looked at all the masks, then picked one that resembled a foxdog. "This one should do. How much sir?" The dealer named the price and she paid accordingly.

"No, wait, I should pay!" Ty Lee insisted.

"No time. Take the mask and go." She offered the mask to Ty Lee, and she put it on. It felt weird looking through it. Instantly, fear arose that she would run into things, but after walking a few steps she realized it was easier than it looked.

"Okay, meet you back here?" She asked, but Asuka wasn't there anymore. She must have walked off while she was getting used to the mask.

She sighed and went to work. If everything was according to plan, as Asuka said, then the wheeled barrels should be by the fireworks area. She went in that direction. There they were, just like they were supposed to. She walked by them, and as she passed each one, she knocked ever so slightly on their sides. When she reached the last one there was a knock in reply.

Ah. There she was. Ty Lee grabbed the handles of the barrel and began to wheel it away from the others. The back entrance of the academy was to the left, and the groundskeeper was off-duty for the festivities, so that meant it should be an easy ride to…

A hand grabbed her shoulder. She froze and resisted the urge to scream. Slowly, she turned around and found herself face-to-face with a mask of a hawk.

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**Oh! This reminds me so much of the episode 'The Deserter' because that's where the Fire Days Festival is from. That's also where I got the fireworks and the masks from and the magician from. Everything else in this and the next chapter is based off Japanese festivals like Golden Week. Mmm...Teriyaki chicken...Firecracker beef...I love asian food XD **

**I hope you kinda figure out Ty Lee's master plan to get Lien out of the school. Personally, I think its kinda lame, but I couldnt' think of anything better...shows how creative I am XD**

**Hm...I wonder who is behind that mask? I'll give you a hint: We have met this person before. A few times before. Recently. **


	33. The Fire Days Festival

**Hi! School started this week, but I found time to write this. There are only going to be 6 more chapters then this story is over...I'm sad and excited at the same time. I've been working on this for 2 years, so its like my baby XD Some of this is written well and some not. I apologize. Bits of fluffy kind stuff, but totally from a child's POV so its kinda funny XD Kristoshi Warrior guessed correctly who is under the mask, and if anyone else had reviewed I might have known if you had as well XD Sorry I really like review. SO PLEASE REVIEW!!!**

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Ty Lee held her breath, her heart beating wildly. Who was this masked girl? What was she doing approaching her like this? Did she know what was going on? Time seemed to go slowly, and Ty Lee tightened her grip on the barrel.

The figure put a finger to its masked mouth, then lifted the mask quickly. It gave Ty Lee enough of a glance to see who it was. And to see his sheepish grin.

"Ryu!" She hissed so no one could hear, "What are you doing here?"

"Our festival was boring, thought it would be nice to see how yours was going. Like my mask? I thought it was ironic with Tori and all…" He said as if it explained everything. It didn't.

"How'd you know it was me?" She gestured to her mask.

"I might not be able to see your face, but I could see this." He flipped her braid into the air, "Face it. I don't think anyone else in the world has hair like yours."

Ty Lee blushed, hoping this was supposed to be a compliment.

"Well, I don't have time to mess around right now. I'm on the festival committee and I have a last-minute job to do." She explained, hoping to shrug him off for a time. She wanted desperately to spend time with him, but knew she couldn't for Lien's sake.

"Really? I'll help you then."

Ty Lee winced. This was not the moment for him to be generous. Having two people wheeling around a barrel of supposedly blasting jelly was very suspicious.

"I-I really can't let you…"

"Too bad I don't care about what you can or cannot let me do. I'm helping you and that's that." He huffed. This was not the moment for him to be insistent either. But she couldn't sway him now…

"Fine…come on…" She sighed.

They walked slowly toward the bushes that lay over the border of the school's property. It took several minutes, and brought them far away from the raucous festivities. The whole time Ty Lee racked her brain, thinking how she could possibly explain what she was going to do to Ryu. It all seemed kind of ironic. Ryu, who was doing something illegal by being there, was going to help her do something illegal.

Finally, they reached the bushes. Ty Lee found it hard to stay calm. How would Ryu react? Should she do it discreetly, so he didn't notice at all?

Before she could think about it further, Lien popped the top off of the barrel and jumped out. There was an eerie silence as she and Ryu realized each other's presence.

"What is she doing here?" Lien barely got out. Her skin instantly appeared to have a layer of sweat on it. She obviously feared for the plan's success. But Ryu wouldn't be a problem…Ty Lee hoped.

"I think I could ask you the same question." Ryu remarked.

"It's a boy!?" Lien almost dived back into the barrel.

"Wait, wait! Lien he's helping us! He won't tell, will you Ryu?" Ty Lee pleaded.

"Doesn't look like I have a choice."

"Okay, so go, Lien. Hurry, before anyone notices."

Lien looked at Ty Lee suspiciously, then breathed in. She had been waiting for this moment for a long time. She must be making sure it was really happening.

"Thank you so much, Ty Lee. I…I guess I was wrong about you…" Then Lien did something that was completely unexpected. She smiled. It was the first smile that Ty Lee had ever seen her give. It made her look very pretty, along with the uncharacteristic pink glow that surrounded her, opposed to her blue or grey.

Lien half-bowed, then ran off past the bushes. Ty Lee watched her as she disappeared and passed the school property. She felt the relief of a successful mission, of sorts. And she felt happiness. She had helped Lien escape her problems. To hopefully live a good life. Something Ty Lee wished she could do as well. In her mind she wished Lien farewell and a safe journey. She doubted she would ever see or hear of the troubled girl again. If she did perhaps she would have a different view of life.

"You did good, Ty Lee…" Ryu said, "Don't know what you did, but I know it was good."

Ty Lee nodded. She was glad to have Ryu's support and compliment. Especially since he didn't fully grasp the entirety of the situation. But he knew and trusted her, and that was all that mattered.

Without completely realizing what she was doing, Ty Lee found herself walking back to the festival, Ryu's hand holding hers. It gave her a tingling sensation. Something she had never felt before. She had never truly felt anything close to this with a boy before. It was so sweet, she longed for more. She didn't want it to end. It was the first time she had ever been with Ryu outside of the balcony. Their balcony. Was this a dream?

"Hey? Ty Lee? Hellooo? Stretchy?" A voice called her out of her thoughts and she realized that Ryu was waving his hand in front of her mask. It was the hand that she had been holding.

"Oh I'm sorry!" Ty Lee felt stupid, "I wasn't paying any attention."

"Off in your own world again, huh?" She could tell he was smiling even though she couldn't see it. "I wanted to know which of these was your favorite." He gestured behind him. Ty Lee had to lean her head to the side to see.

Ryu had led her over to one of the games booths. There were three bottles stacked up on each other and a small ball on the counter. She assumed you were supposed to throw the ball and knock over all the bottles. Then you got a prize. That was what Ryu was pointing at. The plethora of stuffed animals lined up in the prize rack. Her heart soared, and instantly she found herself drawn to a small plush that resembled a poodlemonkey. It looked so fluffy and cute, with shiny button eyes.

"That one!" She said, pointing excitedly.

"Okay then." He walked up to the counter and spoke with a very high pitched voice, "Excuse me, sir? How much to play?"

"One gold piece." The man behind the counter replied. It was then Ty Lee realized what he was going to do.

"No, Ryu, don't do that for me!" Ty Lee protested.

"It's '_Ryuko_', remember?" He replied in the same fake, high pitched voice. It sounded odd to hear something so ridiculous coming from Ryu's mouth. He was obviously not a girl. But the booth vendor probably didn't care. As long as it was money. "And you deserve this. I haven't given you anything but candy since we've met."

"But I'm fine with just candy. It was good candy!" Ty Lee desperately hoped no one was listening into this too much. It sounded odd since no one else would understand the context. But she had heard of odder things happening in the academy. Azula made sure to gossip about it whenever she was told of it. Mai and Ty Lee usually ignored her if she did. They didn't like hearing about that kind of stuff.

Ryu stepped forward and leaned down, so that he was whispering in her ear. She felt a tingle as his lip accidentally brushed her skin. It was like the hand-holding tingle, but amplified so that her whole body was full of it. Although it lasted barely a second it affected every part of her, every sense.

"But a girl as special as you needs so much more than candy if a gentleman is to adequately express his affection," He whispered. Ty Lee's heart raced and she blushed. She liked it when he spoke with that sophisticated tone his parents had taught him. Then, as if he hadn't done anything, Ryu walked back over to the counter with a gold piece held in between his fingers. He set it in front of the vendor, "If I hit all the bottles I can get that prize, right?" He asked with his fake girl voice, pointing to the poodlemonkey.

"Yes. You can get any prize if you hit them all, but I warn you it is difficult. But for a girl like that I think any boy would try," He winked. Ryu was silent for a moment, knowing that he had been found out. But, as Ty Lee had guessed before, the vendor didn't seem to care.

Ryu grabbed the ball in his hand and threw it up in the air a few times, getting a feel for how to throw it. The way his head was so stiff, Ty Lee knew he was concentrating. Slowly, he raised his arm back, then threw it forward and released the ball. Ty Lee closed her eyes, not wanting to see the outcome. She heard a thump as the ball hit the back of the booth. But had it struck down any of the bottles? She opened her eyes.

No. None of them had been touched, though she could see them shaking from the force of the ball being hurled so close to them.

"Guess I'm not a good a shot as I thought I was…" Ryu muttered before producing another gold coin and handing it over to the vendor.

"Ryu…" Ty Lee frowned. She didn't like the idea of so much money being spent on her.

He grabbed the other ball and breathed slowly, concentrating once again. Ty Lee turned away instead of closing her eyes, and heard the ball hit the back again. When she returned her gaze to the bottles she saw the top one slowly fall over and hit the cushioned floor.

"Shoot…so close…" Ryu tensed. He was frustrated, she could tell by his red color. "Just this one last time, okay, Ty Lee?"

Ty Lee didn't bother to argue. He would do it anyways. She nodded, and he handed the final gold piece to the vendor.

This time Ty Lee was determined to watch the whole way through. For some reason she felt that her not looking was somehow jinxing Ryu's luck, though she knew that was impossible. Luck didn't exist. He didn't concentrate this time. Instead his instinctively grabbed the ball and hurled it forward in a devil-may-care fashion. Ty Lee's mouth gaped open when all the bottles fell over at once. Ryu seemed surprised as well.

"We have a winner!" The vendor cried, "I do believe that a prize is in order, is it not?" He walked over and retrieved the poodlemonkey plush and handed it to Ryu.

"Thank you so much," Ryu replied, bowing as he took the stuffed animal from him.

"You better treat that young lady well."

"Oh, I will, sir." Ryu beamed.

"Or I'll have to report ya."

"I'll keep him in line, thank you, sir." Ty Lee interjected, causing the man to laugh.

"I'm sure you will. Have fun, you two!" He waved as they walked on.

"Here, you hold it, Ty Lee, it's yours." Ryu passed the poodlemonkey over to Ty Lee. She took it without hesitation. Though she didn't like the fact that money was spent on her account, she couldn't refuse the toy or the feelings that Ryu put into getting it for her. It was made of the softest material Ty Lee had ever felt in her life. She cuddled it to her chest as they passed by the booths, "What are you going to call it?"

"Saru." Ty Lee replied.

"Boy, you sure go with the obvious, don't you?" Ryu laughed. "But once again, I think it's a fine name.

"Thanks, Ryu."

"I've gotta go now, Ty Lee. You go back and be with your friends." Ty Lee's heart sank. She really wanted to spend time with Ryu…but she wanted to be with Mai too. There was a different feeling she got when she was with the two of them, one friendly, and one even more than that.

"Okay…thank you for coming Ryu."

"I only wish I could do more…and I can, but not yet."

"What do you mean?" Ty Lee asked. But Ryu didn't reply verbally. Instead, he flipped up her braid and ran off, almost instantly hiding himself in the crowd of people. She lost sight of him in less than a minute. She tightened her grasp on Saru and held it closer. Time to find Mai and Azula.

That didn't take long. They were still at the table where she had left them.

"Hey Ty Lee, you have got to try this Sata Andagi! Its so sweet!" Azula announced in greeting.

"Where'd you get the toy from, Ty Lee?" Mai asked as she noticed Saru. Ty Lee removed her mask and smiled.

"My friend Ryuko."

She knew she would have a _lot_ to write Kei about now.

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**Sorry its kinda short XD I really only wrote this because I can't write anything TFA until my TFA bible (the Allspark Alamanac) comes in and I ahve all my canon info. But its cute I think XD Saru means monkey in japanese like Tori means bird so that's what he meant by obvious XD But what could Ryu do for her?? HINT HINT It is something that I have talked about earlier through Mai and it is in one of the Avatar shorts...If you can't figure it out you'll know by the next chapter. **

**I hope to update soon. **


	34. The Date

**I updated pretty fast XD Took me awhile to write though, I apologize. I'm going to a Christian girls conference this weekend, so I had to finish this soon so I could hopefully finsih my next oneshot by then, which...by the way my homework has been...is probably impossible. Oh well, a girl can try XD This is kinda packed full of stuff. Its mostly a filler. The last filler, I pray. The rest of it will all be non-fillers. There are only 4 or 5 chapters left...I was pretty certain it was five but I can't remember what the fifth one was. Unless I extended the last bit to two chapters...anywho, I got to write Sensei Koboyashi again. I ahd kinda forgotten about her XD Well, please enjoy, and as usual review! R&R**

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It had been a few weeks since that eventful night. The whole school had been in a tizzy once they had heard of Lien's escape. They couldn't believe that someone had actually managed to leave the school grounds undetected. Ty Lee had actually thought the plan was a bit obvious though. There had been a school-wide inquiry about her disappearance. Asuka and Ty Lee lied on oath, of course. It had made her feel uneasy at first, but she knew it was for the better good. Without that lie, Lien would surely have been found.

Ty Lee thought that once it was over, everything would be back to normal. But it wasn't.

Something had changed. Ty Lee felt the same. Actually, she felt lighter and happier after what had happened. She had helped Lien without any difficulty and had gotten to spend time with Ryu. But Asuka didn't seem to feel the same way. She looked sullen and depressed as she walked to classes and she didn't perk up to answer the questions as she usually did. She had even stopped fumbling with her glasses. Ty Lee was worried about her.

"Come on, Ty Lee! It's time to go to composition and literature!" Mai called from inside their room. Ty Lee jerked upward, regaining her bearings. It took her a moment to realize she was on the balcony sitting at the table, where she had apparently fallen asleep. She had thought it would be good to get some fresh morning air. It seems that it was good for sleeping.

"And hurry! Sensei Koboyashi will not appreciate you being late again!" Azula reminded.

"Coming!" Ty Lee ran through the door and into the room, quickly putting on her shoes in record time. Unfortunately, that record time meant lack of stability. She tripped over her own feet and almost landed face-first into the floor. Without even thinking, she converted the energy of the fall into a trick, and found herself standing on her hands.

"What…was that?" Mai asked, a bit stunned at the speed of the events.

"I'm…not quite sure," Ty Lee admitted as she returned to an upright position, "But it was fun!"

"Well, we don't really have _time_ for fun so let's get moving!" Azula insisted as she pushed them through the door and into the hall.

Azula had been sucking up to their teacher more than usual, most likely because of their teacher's immense dislike of her. Ty Lee had noticed that by the way she complimented her on her teaching styles and the fact that she brought her a piece of fruit the other day. Apparently offering a gift of fruit was a common sycophantic practice for school. Ty Lee had never heard of it. But all of this meant that being late to class was unacceptable. Azula had made point to already say that twice that morning.

Because of her prodding they were almost forced to run down to the classroom. By the time they entered there were still minutes to spare before the actual class started. Mai glared at Azula but the princess didn't seem to notice, a proud smile on her face.

Sensei Koboyashi hadn't entered yet, and Ty Lee went over to her seat. There was an eerie feeling as she turned to see the empty desk next to her. Though Lien had been gone awhile it was still hard to get used to. Not that she ever talked to her during class or made any acknowledgement of her existence. It was just the fact that she wasn't there. She wouldn't be there ever again. The desk would be empty until a new student arrived. But, she reminded herself, Lien was somewhere where she would be _much_ happier.

Ty Lee could see Asuka slumped over on her desk, her glasses on the top of her head for unknown reasons. She could be crying, or just cold, Ty Lee couldn't tell. But she was definitely still upset. Ty Lee would have to talk to her later, make her feel better. The blue color around her didn't befit her friendly and kind attitude. Ty Lee knew she could make it pink again. She usually could.

The door slammed open. All the girls' attention immediately was brought to the front of the room. Kasumi squealed in surprise. Sensei Koboyashi marched up to her desk, her hair falling out of her bun. She was breathing heavily as she threw her books onto the desk.

"Asuka!" She cried, "Why…why didn't you come and get me earlier? And why didn't you sound the gong?"

Asuka slowly rose from her desk, placing her glasses back on her face. Ty Lee still couldn't see if she was crying or not; only her back was visible from the end of the room. Crying or not, her color of blue had deepened a shade. That wasn't a good sign.

Asuka muttered something incomprehensible, which left the whole class staring at her in confusion. Sensei Koboyashi frowned.

"Speak up, Asuka. I'm not in the mood for any of your games." She paused, "I was just about to think things have gotten nice around here since that Lien wench left. I don't want you messing with me now too."

Ty Lee winced. She knew that their teacher hated Lien much more than she hated the queens of the school, Azula and Midori. But that was still very spiteful. Especially to Asuka. Asuka had been the one who looked out for Lien. The only one who really could have been considered her friend. Ty Lee could see Asuka's hands clench into fists.

"I…I-I resign as Iincho." She whispered. A silence filled the room. Sensei Koboyashi's brows furrowed into a glare.

"You what!?" She shouted, her color turning to a bright red. She had been exasperated before, but now she was angry. Ty Lee felt herself slinking down further into her seat. She wasn't angry often. The last time she was angry a window got broken. No one wanted to see what she would do this time.

Asuka took a deep breath.

"I resign as Iincho. Mrs. Cho is filing my official resignation as we speak." She restated, more firmly this time. Ty Lee tried to imagine the defiant glare in her eyes, magnified by her glasses. For some reason she couldn't. It wasn't fitting.

"You can't do that!" Sensei Koboyashi protested, "You just can't do that!"

"I already did. I…I apologize…But I can't…"

"No...No we'll talk about this later. For now, we all have to go." She ran her fingers through her hair, "We have to go now…"

"Why do we have to go?" Yun asked.

"Uh…I forgot to mention this earlier…but today is the day to choose your dates for the Golden Dragon Dance…."

"The Golden Dragon Dance!?" The whole class erupted. Except for Ty Lee and Asuka. Asuka because of her last outburst. Ty Lee because she didn't really understand what this was. Apparently it was important, because all the girls began to make a huge fuss about it.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier!?"

"I can't just choose now! Look at the outfit I'm wearing?"

"Well, we all know that _I'm _going to have boys hording around me, so I'll be okay." Midori announced haughtily.

"As if! They will be too distracted by me!" Azula retaliated, smiling, "You don't have a chance, without the beauty and grace I inherited. Your washed up mutty heritage won't even get you a blind boy." Midori grew red and fury and was about to say something else, when Sensei Koboyashi screamed, regaining everyone's attention once more.

"I really don't give if all of you are dateless! You have to be in the square, **now**!" She hollered with an intensity that even with all their experience with her anger had never seen. The girls cowered but obeyed, filing out into the hallway.

Mai and Azula were out of sight before Ty Lee could reach them. Even so, she wanted to talk to Asuka. She spotted the Iincho…well, former Iincho it seemed now…slumping out and ran up to her.

"Asuka! Are you okay?" Ty Lee whispered as they moved into the hall with the others.

"Could be better…" She shrugged, "And yeah, before you ask, I really am resigning."

"But why? I thought you loved being the Iincho! I could tell you were proud of your job."

"I-I did…but now it just isn't really fun anymore."

"Is it because of Lien?" Ty Lee asked. There was a short pause, then she nodded solemnly. "But we helped her. She got her wish. Why are you upset?"

"I…I don't know. I just wish that people would speak of her with more respect. She was a very nice girl once you got to know her. And Sensei Koboyashi is the worst when it comes to it. She is so relentless with all the spite that comes out of her mouth." She sighed, "I just don't know if I can work with her anymore."

Ty Lee smiled, and Asuka looked a bit miffed at the sudden happiness that she had in the shadow of all that was said. But now Ty Lee finally understood how Asuka really felt. And she knew exactly what to tell her to set it right.

"Look, Asuka. Do you think that Lien would want you to be upset? I'm sure she would want you to be happy! And if you want to help Sensei Koboyashi be a nicer person, maybe you should continue to be her Iincho and set a good example for her. She could learn something from you."

Asuka seemed to think this over as they walked. Ty Lee didn't know what she was thinking, but every step they took her color slowly brightened up. When they reached the edge of the building to the square she looked at Ty Lee, fumbling with her glasses. That was a good sign.

"Your right. I shouldn't just get rid of problems so easily fixed. My plagues were nothing compared to Lien's. Thank you, Ty Lee. I'll have to withdraw my resignation as soon as possible." She smiled and adjusted her glasses properly on her nose.

"What are friends for?" Ty Lee replied.

"I think I finally know." Asuka said quietly as she stared out into the square, "Now we have to go. Hopefully this won't cut into too much class time. Midterms are starting soon and we need all the help we can get."

Ty Lee laughed and waved goodbye to Asuka as she went off to find Mai and Azula.

She hadn't really been paying attention before. She was so focused on helping Asuka that her surroundings had been a blur. But not she could clearly see the square and its inhabitants. The whole ground was filled with an odd mixture of boys and girls. She had never seen so many her age in one place before. The girls were giggling and blushing while the boys were talking fervently. Ty Lee wasn't sure what was going on. She quickly spotted Mai and Azula and walked over to them.

"What's happening?" She asked when she was close enough for them to hear. Azula smirked.

"Don't you know what the Golden Dragon Dance is?" She meant this as an insult.

"Well…I think. It's a dance, right? With boys, right?"

"No, the boys are just here to stand around." She rolled her eyes. Mai took over from here.

"Yes, that is right. Today is the day we pick our dates for the dance, which is in a week." She explained.

"Personally, I think that it is stupid to make us choose in one day. We should just be in one school in the first place." Azula waved her hand lazily, "Then again…I guess it wouldn't be called the Royal Fire Academy for Girls then, would it?"

Choose their dates? Then all the boys from the boy's school were here. Which meant…Ty Lee's heart raced.

"So, should we go get dates now?" Ty Lee asked anxiously.

"Most likely." Mai answered.

"It shouldn't be any trouble for me, but I should get started anyways." Azula gloated.

Ty Lee took this as permission to set off. She walked off into the crowd, trying to look above everyone's head. There was no sign of him anywhere. She grew desperate. He had to be here. If he wasn't there she would have to go with some lame person. But she didn't want to be with anyone but him. Never. Ever.

Someone touched her hair, flipping her braid into the air. She froze, then turned around.

"Ryu!" She shouted. He smiled.

"Looking for me?"

"Well, of course, why shouldn't I be?" She asked, laughing.

"Why, did you think I was going to ask you to the dance or something?" There was a serious look on his face. She was a little confused.

"Uh…yeah?" She admitted.

"What would make you think that? Why would I go with you?" He frowned.

Ty Lee felt the air around her grow cold. What was happening? What was he saying? She thought…she thought they had something…Was everything he had ever done for her a lie? She felt tears well up.

"But…I-I thought t-that…!!" She whimpered, not looking him in the face.

"Hey! Hey! Don't cry! I was just kidding!" He grabbed her and pushed her against his chest. It was so sudden that it caught her by surprise. Her face turned red. Her felt so warm. "Man, you take things way to seriously."

"So…you do want to go with me?" She asked, slowly wrapping her arms around him. She felt that it was appropriate to do. She didn't care who saw. This was her Ryu. Her boy.

"Of course I do, Stretchy. I wouldn't trade you for any other girl in the world." He replied warmly. Ty Lee breathed in, so glad that everything before had been a joke.

"Thank goodness." She smiled, and drew back from the embrace.

"Well, that's settled then." Ryu rubbed his hands together as if removing dust from them, "You better get ready for this, Ty Lee. Its going to be the best night of our lives."

Ty Lee didn't doubt that one bit.

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**Ah. That was fun. I initially planned for the start to be quicker and the end to be longer but it ended up this way. I can't wait to write about the dance XD It will probably be a really long chapter. Oh! I am finally to teh 100th page in the word document this is written in. Its been a long time, hasn't it? XD I reread the first few chapters, and they suck SO BAD XD Everyone was like 'It is so awesome!' 'Best Ty Lee Story ever!' and now I wonder why you all thought that XD Oh well. I thought it was awesome back then too. But I still get reviews for the first chapter like that. **

**Koboyashi-Sensei is a number of homages to Azumanga Daioh! which I recently started wathcning but starting homaging before now. The punishment she gives Lien is one Yukari-sensei gives Tomo. Yukari-sensei tries to act nice but is a bit yelly like Koboyashi in real life (Also like Sawako-sensei from K-ON!). And there are class representatives like Asuka in other media too, like Yutaka and Miyuki from Lucky Star, and Chiyo from Azumanga. **

**REcently, I've been obsessed with that new movie 9. It looks pretty good. I want to see it. It came out today XD **

**Okay, well, I hope you liked it.**


	35. The Golden Dragon Dance

**Yay. An update. Sorry it took so long. I was on vacation and couldn't write. I actually wrote it all today. This probably has teh most 'romance' in it, but since this is all from a childish perspective it is very subdued. I realize like...NO ONE reads this anymore, but I really just need to finish it so I dont feel like I fail. There are 3 or 4 chapters left. PLEASE REVIEW!**

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Ty Lee smiled as she slipped on her dress. Today was the day. She had waited patiently for so long. It was all that had been on her mind. Whenever Ryu came over it was all she could talk about. The Golden Dragon Dance.

The silk slid down her skin, a soft sensation. It was a new dress. Azula had taken them shopping earlier for the special occasion. Mai and Ty Lee had gone through the excursion with much excitement. The princess, however, seemed a bit depressed. Ty Lee had felt it best not to delve into her feelings. If anything she would deny the sadness or snap at her.

"Everyone else ready?" She called excitedly as dug her feet into her shoes.

"I am." Mai replied. Azula was in front of the mirror making sure her hairpiece was straight.

"Me too, let's get going." She answered once it was completely centered.

They walked out of the room and down the hall. Ty Lee had never seen her color quite as pink as it was now. It was going to be amazing. She just knew it.

Mai even had a little pink in her color, which was unusual for her. But Azula's color matched her attitude when they were shopping. Blue and sad. Ty Lee was starting to get a bit worried about her. But then again, she was the princess. She could take care of herself.

"So, are you two still not going to tell me who your going with?" She asked, trying to get herself off of the subject. Mai's face grew red.

"Uh…no it's a surprise." She explained, looking away.

"Same here. You'll have to wait and see when we get there." Azula insisted. Ty Lee frowned. She had told them that she was going with Ryu. Who could they be going with that she shouldn't know?

Oh well. It really wasn't any of her business. Besides, they said she would see when they got there. She could wait until then. But then again…maybe she couldn't…

As they walked further down the hall the square where the dance was held seemed to be getting farther and farther away. It was driving her crazy. How much longer could it take for them to get there!? She wanted it to happen now! Did anyone know how long she had been waiting for this night! She sighed. This was a bad cause of overreacting.

Finally they reached the square after what seemed to be ages of walking. The square was full of girls and boys already dancing to the distinct sound of the Sungi Horn. It was lit up much like it had been during the Fire Days Festival, except this time there were no booths set up. Instead, the ground was free of debris in order to make the dancing easier. There were, however, a few tables set up with drinks and some treats. Ty Lee eyed them carefully. They all looked delicious.

Without saying good-bye to her friends, she meandered her way over to one of the tables. She felt a bit guilty about leaving them behind, but this wasn't about them. This was a night for boys and girls, not for friends. She couldn't see Ryu at the moment though. He wouldn't be upset if she got herself something to eat real fast.

It was a hard decision. There was Sata Andagi. Taiyaki. Mochi. Rice Candy. She stopped. On a plate full of Taiyaki was a single wrapped piece of orange rice candy. It obviously didn't belong there. She picked it up carefully and looked at it. It was almost identical to the one that…

"Hey, Stretchy." She felt her braid flipped up again.

"Ryu!" She turned around and hugged him so hard she could almost feel his ribs.

"Woah, someone's excited." He smiled. "Then again, why shouldn't you be? It's a pretty exciting night, if I do say so myself."

"You've gone to the dance before?" She asked.

"Yeah, there was one last year too," He replied, reminding Ty Lee once again of their age difference.

"With whom?" She narrowed her eyes and stepped back.

"What do you mean?"

"Who did you go with last year?"

"Oh…that…" He grew a bit red, "Uh…nobody important. Just some girl I had met briefly when we were supposed to pick our dates."

"Was she pretty?" Her hands were now on her hips.

"Do we really have to talk about this?"

"I think it's important, yes." Ty Lee insisted.

"Girls. I'll never understand you." He sighed dramatically, "Yeah, I guess she was kind of pretty. But she had two left feet and horrible conversation skills, so it wasn't as fun as its going to be tonight."

Ty Lee nodded. She really hadn't cared that much about what his previous date had been like. She liked to tease him the way he did her, and she rarely had opportunities like that to do so. And she also liked hearing him talk about how much he liked to be with her…and only her.

Suddenly, there was the sound of trill trumpets. Both Ty Lee's and Ryu's attentions were immeadiately taken by it. The crowd of people had dispersed to one side, leaving an opening where the square begins. A boy was walking into the square with some people behind him. Ty Lee recognized him instantly.

"It's Zuko!" She cried in realization. Ryu scrunched his face up.

"The prince?"

"He's not as bad as his sister," She explained. He sighed in relief.

She hadn't seen Zuko in a long time. He had grown so much older. He almost looked like man instead of a boy. But his embarrassment at his treatment was obvious. He looked away as everyone's eyes fell on him.

He continued through the crowd and finally stopped at a certain spot. It was too densely populated in that area and Ty Lee couldn't see well enough to know why he stopped. Everyone began murmuring at once.

"What's happening? I can't see." She asked Ryu. He leaned on his toes and peered over.

"He's with your friend. What's her name…Mai?" Ryu reported.

Ah. So _he_ was her date. It all made sense now. Why she was so squeamish. So they still liked each other? They were still cute together, she knew that. Ty Lee wondered how Mai had asked him to come…

"I should've known." Ty Lee said aloud.

"Hey, I know this song." Ryu mused as the Sungi horn started again, "Want to dance?"

He held out his hand, beckoning her. She gulped and nodded.

Although Ty Lee had been looking forward to this night for a week, she had been dreading it for this very reason. She couldn't dance. Or at least…she thought she couldn't. She had never really danced formally in any occasion. But something in her stomach told her that if she danced, she would fail. And she didn't want to fail in front of Ryu.

Nevertheless, she laid her hand in his, and they walked out to the middle of the square. He stepped first, taking what Mai called 'the lead' in the dance. Ty Lee nervously stepped in accordance. She kept her eyes on his feet, making sure to copy them accurately. At one point she was staring too intently and she accidently stepped on his left foot.

"Oh…Oh…I'm so sorry!!" She apologized frantically.

"It's fine. You're new to this, aren't you?" She nodded. He tightened his grip on her hands. "Just keep following me. Let the music lead you. Your heart."

She breathed in and listened to the music. It was a slow and pretty melody. She could hear the words clearly.

"Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall: Four Seasons. Four loves, Four Seasons…"

Without realizing it, she danced through the whole song without looking at Ryu's feet.

"What is it?" Before she could inquire further, he leaned over. Her eyes widened as his lips met hers.

Ty Lee had never been kissed before. In many ways it was just like dancing. You generally let the man lead. You followed the music playing in your head. You followed your heart. And yet in many ways it was different. It was different from anything she had experienced. It was like heaven on earth.

He drew back slowly.

"I've been drafted into the army."

And heaven was destroyed.

"W-What!?" She exclaimed.

"I'm of age. I was drafted. I'm…I'm leaving tomorrow."

This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not when everything was going so perfectly. He couldn't leave her like Kei. He couldn't!

"Why?" Her eyes were brimming with tears.

"It's a draft. I can't escape it."

"But I…I'll miss you!" She couldn't live without him.

"Hey, stop crying now. I'll be fine, you know it. Remember what Kei says…" He prompted.

"Never…Never stop smiling..."

"Exactly. Now, come on. Do you want to dance again?"

She was about to respectfully decline when there was an uproar to her right. She turned and saw Azula. Her face was red and tears were spilling out.

"That's it!!" She screamed, "If no one will dance with me then fine! I'll make sure _no one_ else here will _ever_ dance again."

Ty Lee didn't know how the perfect night could've gotten any worse.

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**Poor Ryu. This is kinda why he's not in the show :D And Azula banning dances is based off of the episode 'The Headband' since dancing isn't allowed in the Fire Nation then. I decided to give a reason. **

**XD Sorry Aya. This is Maiko at times :D It gets worse in the next two chapters.**


	36. The Circus

**More depressed! Ty Lee. And I warn you this is probably the last happy chapter of the whole thing. Its kinda a filler, but it has some use as well. And a character that many asked to return is coming back for a cameo! Read and review!**

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Ty Lee snuggled Saru against her as she lay in her bed. She had told Ryu that she would still smile. That she would endure through it. But each day it was getting more and more difficult. Why did everyone leave her? Why was she always so alone?

She had received a letter the other day from Kei. Apparently, Ryu had been drafted into his platoon. He had recognized her brother from her descriptions. They were close friends now.

_Ryu often talks about you. I think you were lucky to meet a boy like him. Not many men would have respected and treated you the way he did. He has told me of his plans for you after the war. He is really considering marriage. Of course, once you are ready, that is. I've given him my consent for father, who I am sure I can convince to agree. _

Marriage? It was every girl's dream! But if he was in the war, he wasn't guaranteed to make it through. She knew he was capable enough, but even the best warriors fell. Everyone died at one point. And war often increased the chance of an early departure.

Her dreams were shattered. Her perfect world was gone. Again. She had to face reality. Life would always come back and bite her, even though she did nothing to provoke it. It was her fate. Her destiny.

Azula had become increasingly cheerier after the dance. She had asked her father to ban dancing from the country because of her emotional distress. And of course, her being his favorite, he agreed. It was a federal offence to dance in public. No more would there be any organized social events containing any kind of dance.

Mai seemed happy too. Her night with Zuko had made her color much pinker in complexion. Ty Lee was glad at least one of them had found someone they could be with. Mai deserved it more than her anyways. It was harder for her to be happy.

Ty Lee sighed. She was going to be happy today. She could feel it. After weeks of mourning and depression she was going to hold true to her promise.

Azula and Mai were also lounging on their beds. Classes were suspended today for unknown reasons. Not that they needed a reason. As long as they could just relax and not listen to Sensei Kobayashi scream they were happy. It was like a break from ongoing madness.

The door burst open. Ty Lee shot up, placing Saru gently down on her bed. It was Asuka, her glasses askew. She was breathing heavily, the gong held limply in her hand.

"Everyone…go…down…to the square!" She managed to get out between breaths.

"Why should we?" Azula snapped, "I'm much more comfortable up here."

"…finally…know…why…classes were cancelled!" She explained, "…special occasion…!"

"What kind of occasion?" Mai asked, slightly interested.

"A…circus!"

A circus? Ty Lee had heard of those. They were supposed to be travelling performers who did all kinds of stunts and entertainment. And there were animals. All kinds of exotic animals. It was something she had always wanted to see but was never allowed to.

"Really!?" Ty Lee exclaimed, jumping off of her bed.

"Yeah, it's all set up! It's going to start in a few minutes. Mrs. Cho sent me to tell everyone!"

"Then let's go!" Ty Lee grabbed her friends hands and began to pull them out of the room past Asuka, who grinned and moved out of her way.

Sure enough, in the middle of the square was a giant red tent. Ty Lee could hear the sounds of the animals inside. She recognized the call. Was it a Saber-moose Lion? Maybe a Boar-q-pine? She wasn't sure. But it was definitely big.

"Step right in, everyone! Don't be shy! The show is about to start!" A man called from the entrance flap. Ty Lee dragged them over to the opening. When the usher saw them his eyes widened, "Ah, the princess. We have a special seat for you."

He motioned them inside. When they entered, Ty Lee gasped. It was so big. There were bleachers set up all around the three center rings. Lantern-powered spotlights were positioned to showcase all the acts. Her excitement rose. She had never seen anything like it before.

"So we're sitting in the front?" Azula asked the usher. He nodded.

"Of course, right this way." He showed them their seats, which were right in front of the middle ring. They had a perfect view of the whole show. Ty Lee landed in her seat.

"Thanks a lot!" She called to the usher. He blinked, then smiled. He must not get that kind of gratitude often.

The lights darkened. It must be starting. Ty Lee focused her attention on the ring. An older man stood in it, dressed in a festive garb. The spotlights were directed on him.

"Welcome! Are you girls ready for the performance of your life? Well here we go!" His announcement was met with many cheers from the crowd, "First off, we have our wonderful acrobatic performers!"

He lifted his hand, and out from the back came in several men and women, each in clothes about as eccentric as the man in charge. They had wide smiles on their faces. But what Ty Lee noticed about all of them was that their colors were all bright pink. Like there was nothing in the world that could bring them down. Ty Lee envied their carelessness. She wanted to be like that.

Some music began to play and the act began. Ty Lee's eyes widened as they began to perform. They were doing tricks similar to what she could do, yet on a completely different level. They weren't all shaky and awkward like she was. They performed with a grace she had never seen before. The strength in their arms must have been tremendous.

Soon their portion of the show was over, but Ty Lee didn't notice. She was too focused on what had happened.

"Ty Lee! Come on, it's done!" She felt Azula shaking her to gain her attention. She turned.

"Huh?"

"The circus. It's over. Were you even paying attention to it?" Azula scowled.

Ty Lee frowned and looked around. Sure enough, the workers were cleaning up inside the tent and all the girls had left. How had she missed all of it!?

"Whoops. Must've been so deep in thought…" she reasoned. Azula rolled her eyes.

"Come on. If we want to see the performers we need to go out. Now." She informed. Ty Lee nodded and walked out with the two of them. When they were out of the tent, she saw that the rest of the school had crowded around all of their favorite performers.

"I think I'm going to go look for the acrobats." Ty Lee announced.

"Because that was the only part you _watched_." Azula mocked. Ty Lee ignored this and went off to look for the coveted acrobats. She had so many questions to ask. What their techniques were. Who they trained with. Everything.

It was so packed that it was hard to maneuver. Ty Lee wasn't the type to push her way through as Azula or Mai would, and instead she politely waited for people to move inches in order for her to slip past, not without saying 'excuse me', of course.

"Well, if it isn't the little sycophant." Ty Lee recognized that voice. She turned.

"Sifu Ling!" she shouted as she recognized her combat teacher. Except…she was dressed in a wavy purple dress with a ridiculous hat and gloves over her hands. If she hadn't spoken she probably wouldn't have known it was her, "What are you dressed as?"

"Oh this," She laughed, looking down at the outfit, "I couldn't find another job after I didn't get the one at the school, so I joined the circus. Kinda lame, huh?"

Ty Lee actually considered it inspiring, but she didn't voice her opinion.

"What do you do?" She asked.

"I'm a 'psychic', which pretty much means I fake knowing the future by poking into people's feelings. It's pretty much cheating people out of their money, but it's just a form of entertainment. They should know that psychics aren't real anyways." She informed. Ty Lee knew for sure that psychics and fortunetellers weren't real. They had guessed both her and Kei's gender wrong.

"You look happier now," Ty Lee noted, seeing the hints of pink at the edge of her color. Ling blushed.

"I had almost forgotten you could do that." She admitted, "I've got you to thank for that. After experiencing your feelings and thoughts, I've gained a different aspect to life."

"Oh…really?" Ty Lee was impressed. She never thought she had a very significant impact to anyone. But apparently she had.

"Yep. I'm a brand new Ling, right here!" She patted her chest in pride, "But there are some things that haven't changed…have you been practicing your moves?"

Ty Lee gulped. She had been a bit lax in her study of Dim Mak ever since Ryu had come into her life and invaded her private practice time.

"Uh…kinda…" She smiled mischievously.

"Show me what you got."

Ty Lee breathed in slowly, and put her feet into position. Then, very quickly, she jabbed several times in the air in a rapid procession. Then she paused, waiting to see her teacher's response. Ling was staring with a critical eye.

"Hm…well first off your left foot should be there, not there," She pointed, "And then…well, you could do with a bit more consideration before randomly punching…but I see improvement…much improvement."

"Thanks!" Ty Lee beamed. A compliment from Ling was a prized possession.

"So, what did you like the most about the circus?" Ling asked.

"The acrobats!" Ty Lee replied without hesitation.

"Thought so. You can do all sorts of stuff like them, can't you?"

"Yep! I want to be as good as them one day!" Ty Lee proclaimed.

"Who knows? The circus may need you someday." Ling offered, "You could be the star of the show."

Ty Lee imagined it. It would be amazing!

"I think I want to join the circus now!"

"Not yet, kid. You still have a life in front of you." Ling reprimanded, "Only use this as a last resort. If you are ever in need, remember that the circus will accommodate for you."

She promised to never forget.

* * *

**Ah...only two more chapters. I can't wait! I hope your excited too! The next ones are probably going to be SUPER long, so be ready!**


	37. The Agni Kai

**Second to last chapter...I might cry...*sniff* anyways. This has a bit of stuff happening. Its kinda sad, but the next one will be...I think heartbreaking...Sorry. This was never meant to be a happy story. Never. It was supposed to be a trajic backstory for Ty Lee. But to make it more trajic, there had to be happiness at a time. I think this is the last time Midori, Yun, and Kasumi show up...unless I find a way to write them into the next one. I added them last moment here because they didn't get written as much as I wanted them to. There was going to be a mini-Agni Kai between Azula and Midori for awhile, which is kinda referenced in this. Well, read and review!**

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"Azula!" Midori shouted. The lunch room was unnaturally silent. Every girl's eyes were locked on the two that were standing. "You think you're better than us just because you're the princess."

"And that isn't a good reason?" Azula smirked.

"Don't tempt me, you stuck-up, immature…" She let out a term that Ty Lee knew she shouldn't repeat.

"Was that supposed to be a threat?"

Ty Lee couldn't remember what started the fight. It had been something stupid. It was always something stupid. She wanted to intervene, but something in her told her she shouldn't get involved. Or maybe it was just because Mai was ignoring the whole scene. She usually used Mai as an example to make decisions.

Kasumi and Yun were quickly at their leader's side, looking angry. Though, they were so air-headed that it the anger looked very misplaced.

"Don't talk to Midori like that!" Kasumi snapped.

"Yeah! She's a hundred times better than you!" Yun insisted.

"Then why isn't she the princess, hm?" Azula asked. She had been putting on more airs than usual lately. Ty Lee blamed her father's attention. And yet at the same time, she wished she had a relationship like that with her father.

"Alright! That's it!" Midori pushed her groupies aside right before her hands burst into flames. Ty Lee had heard that she was a bender, but had never seen her actually bend before. It was about as frightening as when Azula did it; their powers derived from their anger and lust for power.

"If you insist." Azula mock sighed, "Don't be sorry when I burn that beautiful face."

She ignited her hands as well. Except instead of orange flames, blue ones licked her skin. Ty Lee hadn't seen this before. Azula must've been practicing very hard with her bending instructor. She had only witnessed Kei control blue flames, and he had been older than her and it was _still_ rare.

The two girls stared each other down, daring the other to strike first. Then, as soon as it began, it ended. But it wasn't just a random stop. Mrs. Cho had entered the cafeteria.

Everyone instantly redirected their attention to their food, not wanting to get in trouble for even watching the fight. Midori growled as she extinguished the flames.

"Next time." She assured Azula.

"And you won't be so lucky then!" Kasumi informed.

"Yeah!" Yun added.

"Whatever." Azula rolled her eyes. The groupies made faces as they walked back to their table.

And with that, the princess sat down and returned to her meal as if nothing had happened at all. Ty Lee stared at her food uncomfortably. It had been an awkward moment. How was it just so suddenly over like that? Mai continued to eat silently. Ty Lee had lost her appetite.

Mrs. Cho approached them with s contemptuous look on her face.

"Princess, you have been summoned by your father. Apparently your brother is going to be involved in an Agni Kai and he wants you to be there." She announced blandly.

An Agni Kai? Zuko wasn't violent like that…why would he challenge someone like that? Ty Lee didn't understand it. Mai had stopped eating and grown completely red.

"He wants me to support Zu-Zu?" Azula scrunched up her face.

"Don't ask me about his intentions. You need to be in the royal city in an hour. The carriage is here to pick you up." She replied.

"If I must." Azula sighed. She turned to Mai and Ty Lee, "Looks like I'll be missing classes for the rest of the day. Takes notes for me, will you? Exams are coming up."

"Can't we go with you?!" Mai shouted. But she obviously hadn't meant to say that aloud. Her eyes widened and she tried to sink down below the table so she wouldn't be seen. Her color was a mix of purple and blue.

"No, you two have to stay and take the princess's notes, as she said." Mrs. Cho insisted. "Now, come along, Princess. The carriages are expecting you."

"Guess I'll see you afterwards. I'll be sure to tell you if he lives." Azula rose from her chair and followed Mrs. Cho out of the cafeteria.

Mai bit her lip and looked around the room. She was anxious, Ty Lee could tell. She really cared about Zuko. But there was nothing they could do. Mrs. Cho made it certain they were to stay there. Unless…

"Mai, come with me." She stood up.

"What?" She blinked and stood as well.

"We're going to get Asuka to take our notes today."

* * *

Mai's eyes were wide and she looked like she was trying her hardest not to breathe. This could be because of two reasons: one, she didn't want to be caught stealing a ride in the baggage compartment of the carriage, or two: she was claustrophobic. Either way, she was very scared.

Ty Lee was about the opposite. This was exciting! She had never stowed away before! The only thing she didn't like was the lack of space, because she did enjoy being able to stretch her legs. Thank goodness there wasn't any luggage in the compartment. Then they would have no room whatsoever.

It had been about an hour. The trip was rather boring and Ty Lee had fallen asleep near the start. The road was relatively smooth so it was easy going. But there was some stress in the air, no doubt on account of Mai's worrying. She didn't want to break the rules. She said her parents would be furious with her. Ty Lee had to remind her why they were breaking the rules. They had to make sure Zuko was okay.

Finally, the carriage stopped. They heard the door open and Azula walk out along with some servants. Ty Lee paused, wondering when they should leave as well. Finally, when she thought the time was right, she opened the compartment door ever so slightly. She peered around, making sure the coast was clear. Everyone was walking to a certain building, young and old alike. Once they got out they could slip in without detection. It was the getting out part that was hard.

Slowly, Ty Lee pushed herself out of the compartment. She fell face-first into the dust, Mai following after her.

"That could've gone better." She commented. She stood up, brushing the dust off of her clothes. Then, instinctively, she looked around again. No one seemed to notice two suspicious girls popping out of the back of the carriage. So far, so good.

It took Mai a bit longer to get up. She looked tired.

"Come on, before anyone sees us." She grunted, pointing toward the building everyone was heading for.

Although they were trying not to act conspicuous, they couldn't help walking shakily over, as if at any moment someone would call them out. The nervousness still hadn't passed by the time they reached their destination.

The building looked like one used for military purposes. How fitting, since a fight was occurring on the inside. Ty Lee could only wonder who Zuko would be fighting. Why did he challenge someone? Or was he challenged by someone else? And why was she challenged?

Too many questions. She would just have to figure it out, and soon.

When they entered the building, they were met with many corridors and hallways, with people going in all of them equally. There was no way to know which one led to where they wanted to go. Ty Lee couldn't help feeling hopeless.

"Hogmonkey! We came this far…but now what?" She frowned. "I can't tell where the thing is taking place."

"We can't check all of them…"

"No, it would take too much time."

"Maybe we should just pick one and try our luck." Mai suggested. She wasn't usually this desperate, but it was Zuko they were talking about. She had reasons to be anxious.

"Okay…I pick…" Ty Lee covered her eyes and twirled her finger around aimlessly, "…that one!" She opened her eyes to find herself pointing at a potted plant.

"This way, Ty Lee." Mai directed with a slight smile.

She led them down one of the many hallways. They moved silently, peeking into all the rooms to make sure they hadn't passed the one they wanted. Almost half an hour later, they weren't anywhere closer to finding it.

"Where could it be?" Ty Lee whispered. Mai was taking it hard, mumbling to herself.

"It's too late. It must've already happened. It already happened. We're too late…" She looked like she was going to cry. Ty Lee didn't blame her. But she kind of wanted the morale to be happier.

They turned another corner and were surprised to bump into…

"Azula!" Ty Lee gasped. The princess was as surprised to see them too. She was accompanied by a servant. Ty Lee considered grabbing Mai's hand and running. But that wouldn't be proper.

"I thought you might try to come along." Azula smiled, "But I didn't think you had it in you. I'm impressed."

"Is it over?" Mai asked, her voice cracking.

"The Agni Kai? Yeah, finished ages ago. It was a real disappointment. Turns out Zu-Zu had to fight my dad."

There was a silence. Azula spoke as if it were no big deal. Mai was horrified.

"What happened!?"

"Nothing big. He just burned his eye." Azula waved her hand as if she cared less. Mai looked sick, "Oh. That's right. And banishment from the kingdom until he retrieves the Avatar."

"But the Avatar…He was killed, right?" Ty Lee asked. Azula flicked her on the forehead.

"Duh. The Avatar _always_ dies. Then he comes back. It's how it works. The latest Avatar either passed or is still alive…which would make him an old foagy, but a threat nonetheless." Azula sneered, "It's a lost cause. Zu-Zu will never find him. He and Iroh will be forced to sail around for the rest of their measly lives searching for nothing."

"When does he leave?" Ty Lee asked. She didn't like the fact that she would never see him again. Mai was taking it worse. She looked like she was going to have a breakdown.

"Oh, now. I'm supposed to go see him off. Do you want to come with me?" She asked casually, as though asking if they wanted to join her for dinner.

"Yes!" Mai almost screamed.

"Follow me, then."

They walked back out of the building, considerably faster than they way they came. Azula knew some shortcuts. The whole time Ty Lee was thinking…How could this happen to Zuko? Why did he have to fight his dad, the Fire Lord? What could Zuko have possibly done that deserved that? Once again, the questions went unanswered. It was hard when you didn't understand something.

When they left the building they turned around and went to a small alley way. There was a little group of people there surrounding a small carriage. Most of them were soldiers. Ty Lee recognized Iroh there as well. And then…was that Zuko? It looked just like him. But over his left eye was a cloth, which was surely hiding the scars that came with his father's strike. It almost made him look like…Kei.

Mai broke out into a run.

"Zuko!" She cried, tears running down her face. She dashed past all of the people, making her way to him. He looked up, a look of fear in his visible eye. Ty Lee felt for him. He didn't want Mai to see him like this.

Mai reached Zuko. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"Mai…" He tried to talk. She cut him off by leaning forward suddenly, about to kiss him.

The soldiers nearby seized her arms and began to pull her back. She struggled, continuing to hold firm to Zuko's hand.

"Let go, little girl!" One of them barked.

"No! No! I won't! Zuko!" The tears increased in flow. "I love you, Zuko! I have, and I always will!"

Ty Lee wanted to do something. If she really wanted to, she knew she could try to take down some of the soldiers. It probably wouldn't end well, but she could gain Mai some time. But Azula shot her a look, as if she knew what she was planning. There was a glint in her eyes that told her to stay out. Ty Lee obeyed, and watched the scene unfold solemnly.

"I'll come back, Mai. I'll find the Avatar, and restore my honor." He assured. His voice sounded rough and cold. He had changed, "And then, I promise, I'll come and find you first thing."

"I'll wait for you!" She wouldn't relinquish her hold on Zuko's hand, but Ty Lee saw that the force of the soldier's pull was making them slip.

Finally, she let go, and allowed the soldiers to push her back over to where Ty Lee was. She had never seen Mai's color look so bleak. The tears wouldn't stop falling, and she looked away, ashamed at herself.

"I need to have a few words with my brother, then we'll go back to the school." Azula announced as she walked past.

Ty Lee put a hand on Mai's back, comforting her.

"It's okay, Mai. We still have hope."

For the moment, that is.

* * *

**Poor Mai. Even if you aren't Maiko, I think you should feel bad for her. The only thing that makes her happy is Ty Lee and Zuko. I had this planned from the start, so it was nice to finally write it. **

**Oh, and FYI. You know how he has to do the Agni Kai because he was defending an army troop? Well...guess whose IN that army troop? Take a guess. Take a guess! Well, that's all! I hope to update real soon...and *cries* finish my first story...**


	38. The End

***cries* The last chapter...I-I can't believe its come to this...I actually had my doubts in completing this, since I rarely finish things I start. But I perservered, even if it took more than 2 years to get it done...I thank all of you for your support. I personally think I could've done better with this, but some of you really like it. I'm glad I was able to entertain you. And I'm glad you appreciated my work...It really means the world to me everytime I get a review...**

**A fair warning: This was never intended to be a happy story. Don't expect to be happy upon finishing this. **

**Well...for the last time...Read and review *sniff***

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"Ty Lee, wake up." She felt something hard hit the top of her head, bringing her out of her dream.

"Wh-What?" She asked groggily as she opened her eyes. Sensei Kobayashi was standing in front of her desk, a book in her hand which she obviously just used to whack her with.

"You were sleeping. In class. Again. Next time I'm sending you to Mrs. Cho." She warned. Ty Lee blushed. She didn't mean to fall asleep. But she was so tired lately. A lot was on her mind.

She worried constantly about Zuko. Was he alright? Did they have enough to eat on the ship? Would he find the Avatar soon, if at all? She knew she would be feeling horrible in his situation. But she was even more worried about Mai. She was becoming more and more cut off, barely talking to anyone, even her. Her color stayed borderline gray, and she didn't smile. Ty Lee tried to make her happy, but instead of laughing she would tell her to stop being annoying.

That was a first. Mai never acted like that.

Azula was getting more and more stuck-up. This didn't help the clique war between her and Midori either. There was a confrontation at least once a day. But Midori seemed to be getting wary of continuing it. Azula on the other hand was raring for a fight. Ty Lee didn't see what good that would do.

Tori hadn't come back with a letter from Kei in a long time. Something inside of Ty Lee told her she should be anxious, but she remembered that he was capable of taking care of himself. And Ryu was with him. They could take care of each other.

Sensei Kobayashi redirected everyone's attention to the board.

"Since exams start next week, you don't have any homework…" She announced. There was a cheer from the students, "…but you are going to have a quiz every day until then."

As quickly as they cheered they groaned.

"Aw man…"

"That's not fair…"

"I _hate_ quizzes."

"Hey look, I don't like them as much as you, but if you guys fail the exam _I'm_ the one who gets hurt, okay? They'll blame me for you being idiots." She rolled her eyes exasperated. "So study? Okay? Class dismissed."

Everyone got up solemnly, their spirits dampened at the news. But Ty Lee was still excited. She had been practicing hard on her form, and she was certain she would pass the exam. Even Asuka was impressed by her skills. So was Kei. He made sure to compliment her in his replies.

Oh that was right! Ty Lee jumped out of her chair. Asuka had said she wanted to talk to her. They hadn't had time before class. She scanned the crowd of girls leaving the classroom, trying to spot the Iincho before she left. There! Her glasses let off a glint as Ty Lee raced toward her.

"Asuka! Hey, you wanted to talk!" She reminded. Asuka turned and looked at her, a bit confused.

"I did? Oh that's right. Let's see…" She put her finger to her lips and pondered a moment. Then her face crumpled, "I've forgotten."

"It's okay. You'll remember soon." Ty Lee reassured, "Just drop by my room then, okay?"

"Got it."

Ty Lee then said good-bye to Asuka and went to find Azula and Mai. They always seemed to get out of the rooms before her. Like they were in a hurry and didn't want to take their time. This time they were waiting for her in the hall, which was unusual. They usually went ahead to their room.

"So, what do you think about the exams?" Azula asked as they began to walk, "Sound scary?

"Why would they be scary?" Ty Lee frowned.

"Because you are probably all concerned about your grades, aren't you? You aren't guaranteed to graduate like me." She flashed a wicked grin.

"Actually, I think I'll do well on these. I've been studying a lot. I remember all of the symbols now."

"That's good. Wouldn't want people to think you're stupid." She muttered.

They remained quiet until they reached the room, Mai the quietest of all. She didn't even make a sound. It was like she wasn't even there. Just a shade following them around. A memory of once-was.

Ty Lee practically collided with her bed. It was so soft and warm, she almost fell asleep again. But they only had a short break until the next class. She could only rest for a little bit.

Her mind wandered again. Why had Azula said that she was guaranteed to graduate? Maybe because she was a princess she got a clear way through. That wasn't very fair though! What was the point of going to school and learning anyways if it was that easy?

Something nudged her shoulder. She looked up. It was Mai.

"I found this on the floor. It's yours, right?" She held up a dusty rag. Or what looked like one, anyways. It was then she realized it was Saru.

The poor thing! It was all dirty!

"Oh no! How'd that happen!?" Ty Lee grabbed it and began to brush it off frantically. Nothing could happen to Saru. It was her last memento of Ryu.

"It probably fell off your bed when you toss and turn as you usually do, then you forgot about it for a few days." Mai replied coolly.

Ty Lee felt stupid. Mai was right. But how had she just forgotten like that? Saru was important to her! She continued to brush off the dust, but nothing seemed to work.

"It won't come off!" She cried desperately.

"Here, give it to me." Mai offered. Ty Lee handed it over slowly.

Azula seemed to be ignoring the whole scene, perched royally on her bed resting. Ty Lee didn't mind. She would most likely just say something mean anyways.

Mai handled the poodlemonkey toy gently, carefully removing the dirt from its fabric. Ty Lee watched as she worked with expert care. She looked like she was really concentrating. There was even a hint of happiness in her color, though it was overshadowed with pain. She handed it back a few minutes later. There was barely any evidence that they plush had been dirty before.

"Thanks Mai! I…I can't believe how well you did it!" Ty Lee said, amazed.

"Yeah…well…I know its special to you…I mean…if Zuko had…" She trailed off and hid her face.

Ty Lee felt bad for making her think about that. Zuko was a hard matter for anyone to talk about lately. Except Azula. But well…she was Azula after all. You could never really expect her to feel anything like that towards anyone, especially her brother.

Ty Lee was about to apologize, when the door to their room burst open. Everyone instantly looked to see who it was.

"I remember!" Asuka cried triumphantly. She looked like she had run all over the country just to get there, panting heavily, "I remember what I had to tell you!"

"What is it?" Ty Lee asked, setting Saru down carefully on her bed, making sure it wouldn't fall off again.

"Your messenger hawk came in yesterday at the mew! It had a letter. I don't know why it didn't come straight to you though." She informed.

Tori was here!? That meant Kei had written her something! Before anyone else could say anything, she was out of the door, on her way to the mew.

* * *

Ty Lee had never been in the mew before. It was musty and smelled like bird poop. But it made sense. Kind of. There was straw literally everywhere. Probably to lessen the mess. It took her a second to locate Tori. There were all sorts of different kinds of hawks here. She didn't realize so many other students had messenger hawks as well. She was so excited. A message from Kei!

Tori cooed happily when she got to him. She petted his head gently and offered him a little bird treat she had taken from the storage room. He deserved it, after all he had done. He ate it quickly. The letter was tied to his leg and she undid it quickly. Carefully, though. She didn't want to rip it.

There were two clues that something was horribly wrong. The first: this wasn't Kei's handwriting. It was far too feminine and neat. His was scrawled all over the place but legible. The second: the note spilled over to the back of the parchment. Kei always made sure to keep it on one page. This wasn't from Kei. But how else had Tori gotten it?

She began to read nervously.

_Dear Ty Lee,_

_I've never liked to be the one to tell bad news. Especially not to you. But I think it would be a worse sin to deceive you. First of all, I must explain something. I am writing this from an Earth Kingdom prisoner of war camp. And this is Lien. I hope you haven't forgotten about me. I haven't forgotten about you. Neither has Ryu._

Lien was writing this? And Ryu was there, in a prisoner of war camp? Why was this taking a sour turn?

_I feel somehow this is all my fault. If I had only done something, maybe I wouldn't be writing this now. But I didn't do anything. I just stood and watched._

_Your brother is dead, Ty Lee. _

Ty Lee finished reading. Her blood froze. Her heart stopped beating.

Kei. Her brother. The person who cared the most about her in the world. The one who could take care of himself. The one who promised her that he would come back. He was dead. He was gone forever. She couldn't believe it. Wouldn't believe it. He had promised her!

She forced herself to keep reading.

_He and the rest of the 41__st__ regiment were captured after having been thrown straight into the frontlines. The Earth Kingdom was merciful and didn't kill them. But the camp is awful enough to make one want to die. I know; I've been working here for the last few months. _

_Kei was smart. He and some others decided to plan a way to break out. It didn't end well, though. They were caught, but Kei was brave enough to ask for death for himself instead of for all his comrades. So they granted him his last request. _

Something splattered onto the parchment. She looked down, and saw a wet spot appear. It was then she felt the hot tears running down her face. This wasn't happening. Not to her. Not now.

_Ryu feels guilty as well. He had backed out of the plan days before it happened. He wished he could've taken his place. He asked me to write for your forgiveness. Knowing the way he talks about you two, you will. _

_I would like to give you condolences but I've never felt a loss like this before. My mother was taken from me before I could be attached to her. _

_He never stopped talking about you. He was almost obsessed with you. Every time something upsetting would happen, he would remind us how you would stay happy. I hope his love will remain with you forever._

_Your messenger hawk should make it to you soon. If I'm caught writing this, I'm not sure-_

At this point it was cut off mid-sentence. She must've been in a hard-pressed situation and couldn't write anymore to risk exposure. Ty Lee appreciated her sacrifice for her benefit.

She felt numb. Slowly, she crumpled down, pressing her head into her knees, crying. The birds around her made awkward noises, as if trying to figure out why she was acting strangely. They wouldn't understand. They were just hawks. They didn't have feelings and easily-broken hearts like she did.

She should've expected this by now. Nothing went her way. She would have to accept it.

* * *

She hurriedly began to stuff things into a small bag. Another set of clothes. All of Kei's letters. Her brush. Her Dim Mak scrolls. Saru.

She had to be quick. She wasn't going to let her father come and take her away. Without Kei, there was no one to defend her from him. He would be relentless. She shuddered thinking about it. Not even Azula could probably stand up to him. She was all alone now.

Ty Lee was sad that she could only leave a quick note for Mai to explain her absence, but her and Azula were in combat class and she couldn't wait until it was over. She simply told her that she had found her calling. She was running away to the circus, where she knew they would provide for her. Where she could still be happy.

Azula probably wouldn't care. Maybe she would be happier if Ty Lee wasn't there anymore. She never seemed concerned about her anyways. Mai would take it hard though. She was the only thing that made her decision difficult. But she was tough. She would survive it. Hopefully.

Too much had happened here. Too much more could still happen if she stayed. She had to leave now. Ty Lee lifted the bag over her shoulder and said farewell to her room. She had to do it.

All for the sake of the smile.

* * *

**A lot of you smarty-pants figured out what was going to happen to Kei before. I planned it from the start. I apologize. I can be very cruel when it comes to my favorite characters. **

**If anyone wants to know what happens to some of the OCs, I'll list brief continuations right here. If they aren't listed, you can ask for an explanation in a review.**

**Lien- When she escaped she arrived at a POW camp in the Earth Kingdom. She wanted to be a soldier, but they wouldn't let her because of..well, she just came from the Fire Nation. Little suspicious. But they let her work as a maid in the camp. She got to meet Kei briefy before he died. And she met Ryu too. She later becomes a guard in the Earth kingdom version of the Boiling Rock.**

**Ryu- Poor guy. Never can forgive himself for all the pain he thinks he caused Ty Lee. Remains in the POW camp until the end of the war. By that time he has forgotten about his young love *tear***

**Ling- Well, they meet up at the circus where she completes her training with Ty Lee. Becomes her closest friend there and they often preformed together before Ty Lee became the star.**

**Asuka- I don't really know what would happen to her, actually. I bet she would become a teacher eventually, probably by the time the war is over. **

**If you read Saving Kyoshi, I'm trying to get my beta to do her job, but she is lazy. I will continue that story too.**

**Well...*sniff* I hope you enjoyed it. Every part of it. Even the crappy chapters...This was and will always be my first fanfiction. The one that started it all. And its finally over...**

**Sayonara**


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